Kevin Durant, the 35-year-old star of the Phoenix Suns trained on Wednesday after Team USA arrived in France to prepare for their defense of the Olympic basketball title. The former NBA MVP and three-time Olympic gold medalist had missed all five of the USA’s warm-up games due to a calf strain he picked up in June, but USA coach Steve Kerr said there were no plans to replace Durant on the roster.
“The plan is for him to get in the scrimmage and see how he handles that,” Kerr said at a press conference in Lille following an hour-long practice session. “He looked good today, got a lot of shots up, and told me he’s feeling pretty good.”
Durant sat out the win over Canada this month and two exhibition games against Abu Dhabi. He’d also been scratched for the latest ones in London. Kerr said Durant’s return would start with a scrimmage from where the training staff would further assess.
Ultimately, it’s going to come down to a decision by the Suns organization, Durant’s representatives, and Durant himself. “This is not going to be like us going out and saying, ‘Hey, let’s just throw him out there,'” Kerr said.
Whether Durant is fit enough to face Serbia in the Team USA opener remains to be seen. But Kerr can fall back on LeBron James, returning to Olympic duty for the first time since 2012. —′– James will carry the United States flag — along with tennis star Coco Gauff — during Friday’s opening ceremony on the Seine.
Kerr said of James, “I just like coaching him rather than coaching against him; he’s incredible. To see him at 39 doing everything he’s doing, dominating games, leading practices, and setting an example for everybody—he is incredible.”
As Team USA prepares to take on its campaign in Paris, the focus shall always be on Durant’s road to recovery and James’s leadership—two elements that will determine whether they can bag home another gold medal.
