Kevin Durant is only 23-years-old. Perhaps that's easy for some to comprehend, but for most basketball fans, it's likely to take them by surprise if they really think about it. He's a three-time scoring champ. He just made his first NBA finals. His team is loaded as well as any for the next half-decade or more, and he just won a gold medal in London for Team USA basketball.
Tom Haberstroh of ESPN said that among his five takeaways from the recent showing at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Kevin Durant's greatness was one of them.
"Think about this for a second: Durant is 23 years old and just scored more points in one Olympics than any player in history (156)," writes Haberstroh. "He made a mockery of the shortened international dimensions, drilling 3-pointer after 3-pointer during the tournament. All in all, Durant shot 52.3 percent from downtown and averaged 30 points per 40 minutes in these Olympics. He made more 3-pointers than Anthony and Love combined."
If anything, Durant has already placed himself alongside the greatest in the game for the short period he's been at it. If this streak continues and even declines a bit, Durant will still eventually find himself mentioned alongside the greatest of all time.
For the latest on the 2012 Olympics, check out SB Nation's dedicated Olympics hub.