During group play of this year's Olympics, Carmelo Anthony surpassed LeBron James to become the leading scorer for the USA in Olympic men's basketball competition, a record he extended as the U.S. won gold. But is Anthony really the best U.S. Olympian? And where do he and James stack amongst the best basketball Olympic stars?
Fortunately, FIBA.com has complete box-score stats for the Olympics dating back to 1980, enabling us to compare players from the modern era -- including the entire period where NBA players have been eligible to play -- on a level playing field.
To value those stats, I used John Hollinger's game score. And then, to reward the players who were part of memorable medal-winning teams, I awarded a 50-point bonus for gold medals, a 25-point bonus for silver and a 12.5-point bonus for bronze. Adding up all of each player's Olympic appearances yields the following rankings.
1. Oscar Schmidt (717.3) | Brazil
Olympics: 5 (1980-96)
Who else? While Anthony may hold the American record for Olympic scoring, he's a mere 757 points behind Schmidt, the legendary Brazilian star who so loved playing for his country he turned down opportunities to play in the NBA in his prime.
Schmidt has some advantages here, namely that he played in five Olympics and was the featured scorer each time on relatively weak Brazilian teams that never reached the semifinals.
But Schmidt was no mere gunner. He posted a career .620 true shooting percentage in Olympic play, shooting 42.6 percent from 3-point range after the 3 was introduced. His 1988 Olympics will likely never be matched. Schmidt averaged a ridiculous 42.3 points per game while making 57.6 percent of his 2-point attempts and 55.6 percent from downtown.
Even without a medal, Schmidt deserves to be considered the greatest Olympian ever.
2. Andrew Gaze (587.1) | Australia
Olympics: 5 (1984-2000)
The original version of this list omitted Gaze, the Australian legend who like Schmidt played in five Olympics and ranks second on the all-time scoring list. Gaze, who did play two brief stints in the NBA and also helped Seton Hall to the 1989 NCAA title game, provided a similar combination of prolific and efficient scoring -- if understandably not as prolific as Schmidt.
Gaze scored better than 20 points per game in 1992, 1996 and 2000, all while posting true shooting percentages north of .600. And in 2000, at age 35, he led host Australia in scoring with 19.9 points per game on incredible 85.7 percent 2-point shooting. Alas, the Aussies fell short of winning Gaze a long-overdue medal, losing to Lithuania with bronze on the line.
3. Pau Gasol (577.6) | Spain
Olympics: 4 (2004-16)
Medals: 2 silver, 1 bronze
Gasol has been a remarkably consistent Olympic presence. Since averaging 22.4 points in 2004 on a team that was upset in the quarterfinals, Gasol has averaged between 19 and 20 points each of the past three Olympics, leading Spain to a pair of silver medals after tough tussles with the U.S. He had 31 points Sunday as Spain held off Australia to add bronze to Gasol's trophy case.
How close was Gasol to surpassing Gaze? Had Spain merely won silver this year instead of bronze, he'd rank No. 2.
4. Manu Ginobili (484.3) | Argentina
Olympics: 4 (2004-16)
Medals: 1 gold, 1 bronze
Ginobili cemented his place in Olympic history by leading Argentina to the first gold medal won by a team besides the U.S. in the Dream Team era in 2004. While his averages of 19.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game were relatively modest -- Ginobili actually put up better per-game stats in 2012 -- he shot an incredible 70.8 percent on 2-point attempts in Athens along with 40.5 percent from 3-point range.
Unsurprisingly, Ginobili announced his retirement from international competition after Argentina lost to the U.S. in the quarterfinals, concluding one of the finest Olympic careers for any individual.
5. Arvydas Sabonis (455.3) | Soviet Union/Lithuania
Olympics: 3 (1988-96)
Medals: 1 gold, 2 bronze
The highest-rated player who appeared in just three Olympics, Sabonis might have won a fourth medal had the Soviet Union not boycotted the 1984 Olympics in L.A. At 20, he was already a fixture on the Soviet team, having been on the roster that won the 1982 FIBA World Championships.
After helping the Soviets win gold in 1988 while hobbled after Achilles surgery, Sabonis represented Lithuania when his homeland gained independence in time for the 1992 Olympics. There, the other "dream team" scored an emotional victory over the former Soviet Union (represented by the Unified Team) to win bronze behind Sabonis' 27 points and 16 rebounds.
Overall, Sabonis had one of the best individual Olympics ever in 1992, averaging 23.9 points, 12.5 rebounds, 2.8 blocks and 2.7 steals per game. At 32, Sabonis won another bronze medal in 1996 before retiring from international play.
6. Luis Scola (433.1) | Argentina
Olympics: 4 (2004-16)
Medals: 1 gold, 1 bronze
The focus on Ginobili sometimes obscures his teammate Scola, who is also part of Argentina's "golden generation" along with Carlos Delfino and Andres Nocioni. Outstanding in his own right in 2004, Scola averaged 17.6 points on 66.3 percent shooting and had 25 points and 11 rebounds in the gold-medal game.
Unlike Ginobili, Scola has not closed the door on representing his country in the future, though it's hard to imagine him being part of Argentina's roster in 2020 at age 40.
7. Sarunas Marciulionis (400.5) | Soviet Union/Lithuania
Olympics: 3 (1988-96)
Medals: 1 gold, 2 bronze
Marciulionis was alongside Sabonis every step of the way in the Olympics, averaging 23.4 points and 8.3 assists per game in 1992 and scoring a game-high 29 points in the bronze-medal game. Marciulionis was actually the star of the 1988 Soviet team, leading the USSR with 18.1 points per game on 61.9 percent shooting.
And remember, without the unlikely partnership he struck up with the Grateful Dead, Lithuania might never have made it to Barcelona in 1992 in the first place.
8. Carmelo Anthony (392.5) | USA
Olympics: 4 (2004-16)
Medals: 3 gold, 1 bronze
The gold medal the U.S. won this year (and the 50-point bonus that comes with it) was enough to lift Anthony ahead of James and make him the greatest U.S. Olympian by this measure. And that feels right. Anthony became the first men's basketball player with three gold medals and joined Soviet stars Sergey Belov and Gennady Volov (who played before complete stats are available) as the only men with four basketball medals (both won just one gold medal, in 1972).
So why doesn't Anthony rank higher on the list? First, his 2004 appearance adds little to his tally. Anthony actually posted a negative game score in Athens, averaging 2.4 points while shooting 25 percent from the field in mostly garbage time. Second, despite the efficient scoring that has produced the legend of "Olympic Melo," Anthony has been a second or third option on most U.S. teams, so he hasn't piled up as impressive stats as stars such as James or even Kevin Durant (who doesn't crack the top 10 but did surpass Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan as the highest-rated two-time Olympian). Still, Anthony has carved out a unique Olympic legacy as the most successful player ever from a team standpoint.
9. LeBron James (386.6) | USA
Olympics: 3 (2004-12)
Medals: 2 gold, 1 bronze
Though he has been surpassed by Anthony, James still ranks third among three-time Olympians despite playing on deep USA rosters that limited his opportunities to pile up stats. And the vast majority of his value comes from 2008 and 2012, when he was a leader on balanced teams that won gold. In 2004, James' first appearance at age 19, he averaged just 5.4 points per game on the U.S. team that won bronze.
10. David Robinson (377.0) | USA
Olympics: 3 (1988-96)
Medals: 2 gold, 1 bronze
The forgotten great U.S. Olympian, Robinson was the lone amateur on the 1988 team that won bronze in Seoul who was invited back as part of the Dream Team four years later. Also part of "Dream Team 3" in Atlanta in 1996, Robinson joins Anthony and James as the three American men with three basketball medals.
Never a focal point offensively, Robinson peaked at 12.8 points per game in 1988, but he shot 68 percent from the field in 1996.