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More than two feet separate Team USA basketball star Kevin Durant and gymnast Simone Biles in physical height. In terms of Olympic legacies, though, the two American icons may be closer than one may think.<\/p>\n
Durant\u00a0recently surpassed Lisa Leslie\u00a0to become the all-time U.S. leading scorer in Olympic competitions with a career total of 494 points and counting. Biles, the most decorated American gymnast in Olympic history with 11 medals, is coming off a four-medal haul in Paris and\u00a0may still be leaving the door open\u00a0for a potential 2028 Games appearance.<\/p>\n
Durant and his USA teammates were spotted in the stands watching Biles compete in the women\u2019s gymnastics individual all-around final last week, where she went on to win one of her three gold medals this summer. That experience was apparently the Phoenix Suns star\u2019s favorite memory of the Games.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d never been to a gymnastic event up close like that,\u201d\u00a0Durant told\u00a0The Athletic<\/em>.\u00a0<\/em>\u201cObviously I\u2019d watched [gymnastics] on TV, but it\u2019s different when you\u2019re there. And just to see her greatness, along with the other girls who put so much time into their craft, it\u2019s just amazing to see how great they\u2019ve become.\u201d<\/p>\n As a famously avid user of social media, Durant wasn\u2019t shy about professing his admiration for Biles during the Games, at one point tweeting that he thought Biles could\u00a0\u201ccatch a lob and finish\u201d\u00a0given how high she gets up in the air for her routines. He also had a relatable moment in an interview in which he admitted\u00a0he was jealous of the 27-year-old\u2019s calves.<\/p>\n Whiles Biles\u2019s time in Paris is over, Durant is looking to become the first men\u2019s basketball player to win four gold medals. As Team USA gears up for its semifinal match against Serbia on Thursday, Durant may have an extra boost of motivation from seeing a generational talent like Biles silence her critics and triumph on the international stage.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen people see so much potential in you at an early age, you\u2019re gonna get nitpicked like that, and she\u2019s been through it at the highest of highest levels,\u201d Durant continued. \u201cFor her to continue to come out and showcase the brilliance every day, and also let people know that they sound crazy talking against her? To be able to do both is inspiring. So yeah, she\u2019s inspired me to keep tweeting and keep doing what I do on the court too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n