Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant has already missed all five of Team USA’s exhibitions with a calf strain, but could reportedly be out even longer.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!After defeating Germany 92-88 in London Monday to finish exhibition play 5-0, Team USA is now off to the 2024 Paris Olympics, where they will first play Serbia on July 28.
Durant has already returned to practice, so it was presumed the team was holding him out of the last two games as a precaution, but that might not be the case, according to ESPN‘s Brian Windhorst.
“I think (Team USA) is gonna be playing Serbia without Kevin Durant,” Windhorst said on SportsCenter Monday. “They really were hoping he’d be able to play one of these two games in London. He was a scratch (against Germany). (Coach) Steve Kerr met with him (Monday), and they decided he needs more time with that strained calf.”
With Durant dealing with a calf strain, many are getting flashbacks to when he played through a strained calf during the 2019 NBA Finals and ended up tearing his Achilles. However, Windhorst added that Durant himself said this was not the same situation this time around on.
After the win over Germany, Kerr, who was Durant’s coach in 2019, said that “there’s no thought of replacing Kevin” ahead of Saturday’s deadline to submit the Olympic rosters.
Steve Kerr: "There's no thought of replacing Kevin"
Jrue: "That's Kevin Durant my boy. What are we talking about? That's KD. He need to be out there"pic.twitter.com/KQuax4n6II
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) July 22, 2024
Windhorst also reported: “Kevin Durant is gonna be on this team, and they believe he will be able to play. I think the hopes are dim that he’s gonna be able to do it against Serbia.”
"I think [Team USA] gonna be playing Serbia without Kevin Durant… Steve Kerr met with him today and they decided he needs more time with that strained calf… They could fly in a replacement [for KD], that's not gonna happen."
– Brian Windhorstpic.twitter.com/uHnrWF6Ybk
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 23, 2024
Despite going undefeated, Team USA has had some really close calls in their five showcase games and has struggled to find a rhythm offensively. The U.S.’s best outing game against Serbia last week, a 105-79 win, but Nikola Jokić really struggled in this matchup and they were without Bogdan Bogdanović.
Durant is Team USA’s men’s basketball’s all-time leading scorer and has been the team’s leading scorer the last three Olympics, which have all resulted in gold medals. Even at age 35, the hope was that Durant could once again be a top scorer on this already-loaded Olympic team.
Red, White & Buckets! ????????
KD owns each of the top 3 spots for highest individual competition scoring average in @usabasketball Men’s Olympic history! pic.twitter.com/WGVYRFQyw8
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) July 17, 2024
Whether or not Durant plays, Serbia figures to be a tough opponent for the U.S. with the star power they possess, but we will see how the teams look come Sunday.
Kevin Durant out for Team USA’s final exhibition game against Germany
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
