KD and LeBron are joint-MVPs

LONDON (Jeff Taylor's London Calling) - LeBron James and Kevin Durant were indispensible for the United States at the London Games.

Take either of them out of the squad and the likelihood is that the United States would not have won the gold medal.

Durant was the same scoring machine that led Team USA to the gold medal at the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey, while James was man who took responsibility on either end of the floor when the Americans needed it most.

The 23-year-old Durant made a mockery of the three-point line, shooting 52.3% from long range.

He averaged 19.5 points per contest and had a game-high 30 points in the 107-100 gold-medal triumph over Spain.

While he didn’t make all of his shots, hitting only five of 13 against the Spaniards, Durant eventually hit his stride.

“Once I see the ball going in that helps me out,” he said.

In one of the most difficult games for the United States, a Preliminary Round encounter against Argentina when the Americans only led 60-59 at half-time, Durant poured in 17 of his 28 points in the third quarter to ignite his team and they won, 126-97.

James had 11 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists for the USA in their 119-86 victory over Australia, a Quarter-Final that was much more difficult that the final scored suggested.

It is believed to be the only triple double in an Olympic game dating back to 1976.

In their biggest and most important game on Sunday, the gold-medal showdown with Spain, James had 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.

James proved his versatility, too, whether it was defending in the low post or operating outside.

Without a tall team, coach Mike Krzyzewski needed him to play multiple positions and he did so extremely well.

What has been true for opponents of the United States at most tournaments over the years is that they have to keep an eye on every USA player on the floor.

James and Durant were certainly the Americans’ two most lethal weapons.

"Sometimes you have to pick your poison with us,” Durant said.

“We have so many penetrators, shooters and scorers.

“We were able to penetrate that zone and kick off their shooters.”

The two players were so influential for the USA that they both deserve the MVP award.

Basketball is not necessarily a young man’s game because the other three standout players in the tournament for me were Spain’s Pau Gasol, Russia’s Andrei Kirilenko and Argentina’s Manu Ginobili.

While his brother, Marc, is blossoming into one of the best centers in the NBA and international basketball, Pau remains as potent and effective as ever at 32 years of age.

He showed as much against the United States with 24 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

In every game in London, he reached double digits in scoring and finished with averages of 19.1 points and 7.6 rebounds.

Will he be in the Spain team when in 2016, when the national side tries to qualify for the Rio de Janeiro Games?

“I try not to look that far ahead,” Gasol said after the gold-medal game defeat.

Andrei Kirilenko of Russia is inspirational in every game that he plays.

He is such a professional that coach David Blatt says the players are more concentrated and far more serious when AK47 is around.

The 31-year-old forward’s averages of 17.5 points and 7.5 rebounds don’t begin the tell the story for Kirilenko, who is as disruptive a player for the opponents as any player in the Russia squad.

He had 20 points and eight rebounds in Russia’s 81-77 bronze-medal game victory over Argentina.

Manu Ginobili, the MVP of the 2004 Olympics after leading Argentina to gold, poured in 19.4 points, handing out 4.1 assists and corralled 5.4 rebounds per game as the South Americans finished fourth at the London Games.

He doesn’t care about great individual performances or his own statistics.

Ginobili only cares about winning, which is why he cut such a downcast figure after Argentina’s four-point defeat to Russia.

"It is probably one of the most painful losses (of my career),” he said.

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