On Sunday, the Team USA women's squad won their eighth consecutive gold medal with a thrilling win over France in the final game of the tournament. This occurred on the heels of the Team USA men's squad also defeating France on Sunday afternoon, marking the first time both a men's and women's team from the same country had knocked off the same opponent in order to win Olympics gold.
The contest on Sunday came right down to the wire, as the French national team had a chance to tie things, down three with just seconds left. For a moment, it appeared that they had done just that when star guard Gabby Williams caught a pass and launched the ball into the hoop from what initially looked like three point territory.
However, closer inspection revealed that her foot was actually on the line, and the Team USA women escaped with a one point victory to extend their historic gold medal streak.
Many users on X, formerly Twitter, drew comparisons from Williams' play to an infamous play from the 2021 NBA playoffs featuring then Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant.
“Gabby Williams and Kevin Durant have something in common lol,” wrote one user.
“Gabby Williams pulled a Kevin Durant in the Women’s Gold Medal game against Team USA,” noted another.
The play in question of course would refer to Durant's would-be game winner vs the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 7 of the 2021 Eastern Conference semifinals. In that game, with the Nets down two, Durant hit an unbelievably difficult shot over Bucks forward PJ Tucker that appeared to have won his team the game. However, replay showed that his foot was on the line, meaning the game was only tied, and instead things went into overtime, where Milwaukee eventually won.
The consequences of that were enormous, as the Bucks eventually won the NBA championship that season and Durant would never win another playoff series in a Nets uniform.
However, even those seismic impacts may not be able to hold a candle to the heartbreak that Williams and their teammates are feeling after just narrowly missing out on a chance to send the game into overtime on Sunday.
Meanwhile, as previously mentioned, this is Team USA's eighth straight Olympics gold medal, and America as a whole leads the world in gold medals attained, and total medals attained, during these Olympics.
In any case, this will certainly be weighing on Williams when she rejoins the Seattle Storm back in the WNBA.
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