Kevin Durant can become the all-time gold medals leader in Olympic men's basketball if Team USA triumphs in Paris, but KD has been dealing with an injury that is drawing some skepticism from the likes of Brian Windhorst and Zach Lowe.
Although Durant was relatively healthy during the 2023-24 NBA season with the Phoenix Suns, Durant has been unavailable for Team USA's tune-up games before the Olympic Games. Durant has been dealing with a right calf strain for more than a month now, and while he has been considered day-to-day for the Americans' five exhibition games, he did not play in any of them.
Team USA head coach Steve Kerr, who coincidentally coached Durant for three seasons with the Golden State Warriors from 2016 to 2019, said Durant would remain on the team's Olympic roster despite the missed games and the fact that Los Angeles Clippers player Kawhi Leonard was replaced earlier in the month due to injury concerns.
On his podcast, Lowe said that he would be uneasy if he were a Suns supporter.
“I’m going to take everyone at their word that Durant’s on track, Durant’s fine, Durant’s just taking his time from the calf injury,” Lowe said. “Brian Windhorst reported today that they’re not pulling Durant off the roster; he’s going to be on the roster even if he doesn’t play in the opening game, which Brian on I think ‘Get Up' this morning raised some doubt that Durant would be available for the Serbia game in group play. So they’ll just have 11 guys, which is fine, because already Haliburton didn’t play yesterday against Germany.
“Every game that goes by, I’m going to take everybody at their word, but it’s like this is lingering longer than everyone kind of thought it would linger. And if I’m a Suns fan, it’s like, ‘Wait, what’s happening? He’s still not playing? Uh, we traded everything. OK, knock on wood, I guess.'”
Kevin Durant aiming for record fourth gold medal at Olympics
With a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Games, Kevin Durant can pass Carmelo Anthony and become the sole record-holder for the most Olympic gold medals in men's basketball. Currently, Anthony and Durant each have won three — the players won gold together in 2012 and 2016, while Anthony won in 2008 as part of the ‘Redeem Team' and Durant led the United States to gold in 2021. So it's possible national team head coach Steve Kerr and USA Basketball have taken Durant's potential accomplishment into account during this latest injury saga.
While it would make sense to replace an injured Durant with another talented American wing like reigning NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown, who was passed over in favor of his Boston Celtics teammate Derrick White when Kawhi Leonard withdrew from Team USA, Durant is one of the most popular and decorated American basketball players of all time. Additionally, it is likely the first and final time in which fans will be able to watch LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant play together outside of an NBA All-Star Game.
According to Brian Windhorst, Kerr said the “new plan” is for Durant to practice a few times in France with the team and “have some contact and go through a scrimmage” before playing in a game.
Team USA is set to play three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and Serbia in their Olympic opener on Sunday. The Americans are in Group C, which in addition to Serbia includes Puerto Rico and South Sudan, the latter of which nearly upset the U.S. in a tune-up game over the weekend.
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