[autotag]Jayson Tatum[/autotag] didn’t just make Duke history with his second consecutive gold medal on Saturday. He also made basketball history.
Tatum became the fourth men’s basketball player of all time with an All-NBA First Team nomination, an NBA title, and an Olympic gold medal in one calendar year.
As with any other feat in basketball history, LeBron James and Michael Jordan did it first. Jordan actually managed the trifecta twice, first doing it in 1992 before matching himself in 1996. Scottie Pippen, his Chicago Bulls teammate, matched him in the latter year.
James, who did it in 2012, was previously the only player to accomplish the feat this century.
Tatum scored two points and snagged three rebounds in the championship game, a 98-87 victory over the hosting French team. He also tallied his first Olympic double-double against Puerto Rico earlier in the bracket, and he averaged 5.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game across his four appearances for Team USA.
Jayson Tatum in 2024:
— NBA Champion
— Gold Medalist
— First Team All-NBA
— All-Star pic.twitter.com/VjTMaWeX9D— StatMuse (@statmuse) August 10, 2024
Duke could sweep the Olympic gold medals in the basketball competitions on Sunday if former Blue Devil [autotag]Chelsea Gray[/autotag] and the U.S. women’s team defeat France in the women’s gold medal game.