Kevin Durant hasn’t participated in any of Group USA’s exhibition video games forward of the Paris Olympics and one NBA insider thinks his stint on the sidelines will proceed into the event.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst supplied an replace on Durant’s situation and expressed his doubts about KD collaborating in Group USA’s first pool match in opposition to Nikola Jokic and Serbia.
“I believe [Team USA is] gonna be taking part in Serbia with out Kevin Durant… Steve Kerr met with him immediately they usually determined he wants extra time with that strained calf. … They imagine he’ll have the ability to play. However the hopes are dim that he’s gonna have the ability to do it in opposition to Serbia,” Windhorst mentioned on SportsCenter.
Windhorst added, “One factor Steve Kerr made very clear, he is not going to get replaced on the roster. … They may fly in a alternative [for KD], that’s not gonna occur. Kevin Durant goes to be on this group.”
Kerr did in actual fact inform reporters there’s “no thought” about not bringing Durant to Paris, however the group desires him to undergo a number of practices earlier than returning, SI‘s Grant Afseth experiences.
A reporter additionally requested Durant’s NBA rival Jrue Vacation if there’s concern about integrating KD mid-tournament.
To which Vacation replied, “No… That’s Kevin Durant, my boy.”
Group USA will function essentially the most stacked lineup seen at an Olympic degree in a very long time, so filling the KD void definitely gained’t be a problem for the group.
If USA are to win gold in Paris, Durant will turn into the all-time chief in Males’s Olympic basketball gold medals after beforehand profitable in 2012, 2016 and 2021.
Not like 2016 and 2021 the place KD was the group’s chief, there are different veteran gamers like Steph Curry and LeBron James to steer the ship in KD’s absence.
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