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The Team USA basketball team has relocated from Las Vegas to Abu Dhabi, but head coach Steve Kerr was unable to call on his full team at a Saturday practice session. Kevin Durant, one of the team's best scorers, did not practice with the team as a result of his left calf strain.
Durant has not practiced in more than a week, but Kerr had previously indicated that he did not believe the injury will have a major impact when the team competes in the Olympic Games in Paris later this month.
However, Kerr is beginning to acknowledge that the competition will begin shortly and he can't be sure that Durant will be ready to play or may not be at 100 percent when the games begin.
“I know there's still a couple of weeks before we have to make a decision roster-wise,” Kerr said. “So we're just taking it day by day.”
While Durant is still a member of Team USA, changes were made earlier in the week when Kawhi Leonard was replaced by Derrick White of the Boston Celtics. The Leonard situation was known ahead of time because the 33-year-old Clippers small forward was coming off a knee injury. White is scheduled to join the team on Sunday and participate in his first practice that same day.
Team USA had made contingency plans to bring White aboard in June if it became clear that Leonard was not going to be able to contribute. That plan was activated during the week.
Durant believes he will be able to compete in the Olympics
If there is a contingency plan to replace Durant, it has not been announced at this point. The player wants to be a part of the team and Durant has said that he is looking forward to playing and making a contribution.
Durant suffered his calf injury about two weeks ago and he has said that he is hopeful of being able to play in a couple of Team USA's warm up games. The first of those games is Wednesday against Serbia and there will be another game prior to the start of the Olympics.
Team USA will open Olympic play against France. Final rosters have to be submitted before the competition gets underway July 27. Team USA Managing Director Grant Hill and Kerr can make personnel changes prior to that date.
Durant played 75 games for the Phoenix Suns during the regular season and he averaged 27.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. He connected on 52.3 percent of his shots from the field and 41.3 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. He also connected on 85.6 percent of his free throws.
During the postseason, Kevin Durant and the Suns were ousted by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 4 games. Durant averaged 26.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists during that series.
