Former Syracuse standout Carmelo Anthony became the first man to win three basketball Olympic gold medals on Sunday as the United States defeated Serbia, 96-66.

After the victory, Anthony said it would be his last Olympics. Orange head coach Jim Boeheim was an assistant with the U.S. in Rio.

In Sunday’s gold medal game, Anthony recorded seven points, seven rebounds and two assists in 17:34 on the court. Since his Olympic debut in 2004, he helped Team USA win three golds and a bronze. With his seventh rebound he broke the United States Olympic record for career rebounds. He became the country’s leading olympic scorer earlier in the Olympics.

“We fought. It wasn’t always pretty. We came together July 17 and we all committed for this one reason right now,” Anthony said in a postgame interview on NBC. “It was a special moment for me.”

“I know this is the end. This is it for me. I committed to something,” Anthony said as fans chanted his name. “I committed to this in ’04. I’ve seen the worst and I’ve seen the best. I stuck with it. We stuck with it. I’m here today, three gold medals later. I’m excited for me, but also for the other guys who’ve never experienced anything like this. Coach K, myself, Jerry Colangelo and everybody else who’s been a part of this situation and been a part of USAB since I’ve been here.

“I just want to say thank you for allowing me to be one of the leaders not just of our team, but of our country. Despite everything that’s going on right now in our country, we’ve got to be united. I’m glad I did what I did, I stepped up to the challenge. This is what it’s about. Representing our country on the biggest stage you can be on. America will be great again. I believe that. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but it’s one step at a time and I’m glad we represented in the fashion that we did.”

Published on August 21, 2016 at 5:54 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds