When Team USA entered Saitama Super Arena one last time to accept its gold medal following a 90-75 victory over host country Japan, the players carried a lot on their shoulders before receiving an impenetrable badge of honor, their gold medal, on their necks. To be exact, this group of 12 carried the weight of a 54-game win streak and the pressure leading up to finally taking that seventh straight gold medal.
When the clock ticked down during the final minutes of the fourth quarter, color commentator Kara Lawson said this victory would be not relief, but rather pure joy.