Court of Gold offers unprecedented access to the life-defining triumphs of the men’s basketball teams at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Amidst this compelling story, there’s one poignant moment you won’t be able to get out of your mind — and it all started with a conversation about Twitter.
The six-part series follows teams from the USA, France, Serbia, and Canada as they compete for gold, and features legends like Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and Steph Curry, alongside rising stars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokić, and Victor Wembanyama. Durant shined throughout the summer games, becoming USA Basketball’s all-time leading Olympic scorer. Amidst his success, he wasn’t afraid to open up to the cameras. One of his most powerful, personal moments comes at the end of Episode 2, where, in a candid conversation with Court of Gold director Jake Rogal, Durant’s heartfelt words about the sport reveal his emotional side.
Rogal tells Tudum the conversation had a surprising origin.
“I asked him about [his tweets] after the Serbia game,” Rogal tells Tudum. During the USA’s opening game of the tournament, Durant made his return to the court, having missed exhibition match-ups with a calf injury.He led all scorers with an impressive 23 points in just 17 minutes, showcasing remarkable efficiency by making eight of nine shots, including all five of his three-point attempts — in other words, an astonishing night at the office. But afterward, Rogal noticed Durant engaging with random individuals on Twitter who had little to no following.
“I was like, ‘Hey, you’re in Paris, you just went off [on the court], your mom is here watching you, and all your teammates are here. And you’re on Twitter responding to [people]?’ ” Rogal remembers. “When you see him on Twitter interacting, you’re like, ‘Why is he doing that? Why is he giving these people the time of day?’ It’s because he’s trying to make a point about the game. It’s cool to know that behind all of his feelings, it’s his love of basketball.”
According to Rogal, Durant replied, “When I respond to something, it doesn’t matter what the person I’m responding to is saying. What people are seeing is my response. So really what I’m getting out there is my voice.”
What happened next was a combination of a superstar athlete’s willingness to reveal his feelings in earnest, and a filmmaking team who knew exactly when to start rolling. Rogal says Durant “went into a beautifully said, sort of poetic [speech]” about what playing basketball at the Olympics means to him.
“I looked in the crowd, it’s 27,000 people from all walks of life, all different countries …coming together for basketball,” Durant says on camera. “It’s incredible to see that. So as much as I can bring us together that way, that’s what I try to do.”
He goes on to say that in many ways, basketball saved his life.
“I come from neighborhoods where people don’t even talk to each other. So much hate in the world too, it’s like … when people get to start laughing and joking for the game of ball, it’s cool to me, so it gets me emotional. It’s crazy to see somebody say they traveled so long to come see their favorite player play in the Olympics. They spend their money, they bring their whole family ... it’s just dope to me.”
Thinking back on that moment, Rogal says that while he initially expected his question to generate a playful response, what resulted is a reflection of the depths the athlete is willing to go to share his passion with the world.
“He cares about the game and spreading [the word] so much that it’s overwhelming to him,” Rogal says. “He doesn’t hold that emotion in.”
Watch Court of Gold on Netflix now.
