BOISE, Idaho — This Day In Sports…August 21, 2016:

After some close calls in the group stage in the Olympic tournament, the U.S. men’s basketball team blows out Serbia 96-66 to win the final gold medal of the Rio Games. The margin was the largest in a men’s final in 24 years. Kevin Durant, the new Golden State Warrior, led the Americans with 30 points in the final. But the ultimate triumph wasn’t representative of what they had to go through. The U.S. squad didn’t measure up to some of its Olympic predecessors (1992 Dream Team, anyone?).

One reason: some NBA luminaries weren’t interested—LeBron James, for example. The Americans returned only Durant and Carmelo Anthony from the 2012 gold medal winners in London. But new stars came aboard, like Jimmy Butler, Kyle Lowry, Harrison Barnes, K

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