Will Kevin Durant play for Team USA? That's the question on everyone's mind right now as they prepare for the Olympics. The All-Star forward has missed all of their tune-up games leading up to Paris. There were serious doubts about whether the star will be able to play in the tournament at all.
Well, it seems like Durant might be ready for the opener after all. There were already videos showing Durant at practice for Team USA during their recent sessions. Now, Grant Afseth is reporting that Durant has a chance to play in the Olympics opener against Serbia.
“Steve Kerr told reporters that Kevin Durant will “hopefully” play against Serbia during Sunday's matchup. Durant practiced today again but missed all five exhibition matches before arriving in France. ”
Durant has been out for the entire Olympics preparation period due to a calf injury. While the star participated in their practices, he's been held out of their scrimmages in Abu Dhabi and London. The team has been cautious in dealing with his injury.
To be fair, Team USA has the luxury of “load managing” a player like Kevin Durant in the Olympics. Even with the Suns star out, they still have LeBron James and Stephen Curry to lead them. Still, Team USA would much rather have KD out there playing for them.
Team USA's struggles without Durant
That being said, Team USA has struggled a bit without Kevin Durant. Well, struggled relative to the expectations for them at the Olympics, at least. Their first two games went pretty much as expected, blowing out Serbia and Canada. However, the last two games were quite ugly for them.
They fell behind against South Sudan early on and had to claw back from a double-digit deficit to win by just one point. A few days later, they went toe-to-toe with Germany in a FIBA World Cup semi-final rematch. One could argue that had KD been there, the wins could've come much easier.
If Durant does return to the lineup against Serbia, that would give the US team a major boost for the Olympics. Durant is arguably the greatest Olympic basketball player for Team USA. He had a historic run last season, leading the US to another gold. This time around, there's less pressure for KD to score in the same way he did.
Team USA will face off against Serbia in their first game of the 2024 Paris Olympics. After that, they have a rematch with South Sudan, followed by Puerto Rico to close out the group stage.
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