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5 Players Who Won NBA Title and Olympic Gold in Same Year ft Michael Jordan
Winning an NBA title is the dream of every player but winning the NBA title and backing it off with an Olympic gold medal in the same year is beyond words.
Tatum, who just won the NBA title, is attempting to become one of the select few athletes to have won both an Olympic gold medal and the Larry O'Brien Trophy in the same season. Derrick White and Jrue Holiday, two of his teammates from the Boston Celtics, are competing for the same title on the Team USA roster. Here is a list of basketball players who accomplished a "double-double" in the same year.
1. Michael Jordan (1992)
The greatest player of all time joined the original Dream Team in Barcelona for the 1992 Olympics, fresh off his MVP performance against the Trail Blazers in the 1992 NBA Finals. Jordan adapted his style to FIBA rules and dominated other aspects of the game, averaging an incredible 4.1 steals through Team USA's six wins, after averaging 35.8 points, 6.5 assists, and 4.8 rebounds against Portland. It is commonly known that the Dream Team defeated its rivals by an average of 43.8 points as they won the gold medal.
2. Scottie Pippen (1992)
With an average of 20.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 7.7 assists against the Blazers, Jordan's partner had one of his best NBA Finals performances. In addition to being Chicago's main creator, Pippen was excellent at containing Clyde Drexler, limiting the star player from Portland to 40% shooting over the course of six games. His ability to create plays was evident in Barcelona, where he led Team USA in assists (5.9) and averaged more assists per game than Magic Johnson.
3.LeBron James (2012)
James won his first NBA championship in the 2012 NBA Finals against the Thunder, which helped him get over his meltdown against the Mavericks a year earlier. "The King" brought his newly acquired self-assurance to the 2012 London Olympics, where he probably received a lot of the same "What's up, champ" remarks that Tatum is receiving this year.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski used James as a traditional small forward, asking him to defend the wings and provide support to Chris Paul, who handled the ball. James led Team USA in assists (5.6) despite finishing third in points.
4. Kyrie Irving (2016)
The master of ball handling had just finished one of the biggest shots in NBA Finals history at Oracle, where he destroyed the Warriors in Game 7. It was Irving's moment to shine because players like Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, James Harden, Stephen Curry, and James James were all sitting out the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Irving did just that. Irving dismissed the label of "selfish" that had followed him throughout his career by allowing Paul George, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, and Klay Thompson to all attempt more field goals than him through eight games. Irving also led Team USA in assists (4.9) and was third in points (11.4).
5. Holiday and Khris Middleton (2021)
Holiday and Khris Middleton accomplished the "double-double" as well, winning gold in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics before leading the Bucks to the NBA title in 2021. Even so, the history books still list them as the 2020 Olympic gold medalists because those games were moved from 2020 to 2021. People might argue that the duo shouldn’t be on the list based on technicality.
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