Draped in a gray Team USA hoodie, Kevin Durant sat in a red chair at the far corner of UNLV’s practice court three weeks ago as his teammates put up shots. Durant was seen chatting with head coach Steve Kerr and managing director Grant Hill after being unable to go through practice because of a calf injury he sustained ahead of Team USA Men’s Basketball training camp.
His return Sunday at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics was worth the wait.
As Steph Curry and LeBron James garnered headlines and highlights, Durant watched from the sidelines. While James saved Team USA from upset losses to South Sudan and Germany, there was nothing Durant could do except wait his turn. Until the games truly began and final scores started to matter.
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Durant missed all five of Team USA’s exhibition games before being cleared for the start of the Group C play for Sunday’s opening 110-84 win in Lille, France at Pierre Mauroy Stadium, rising above Serbia’s defense for 23 points off the bench in fewer than 17 minutes.
“Leg felt great,” Durant said to NBC’s Mike Tirico. “I’ve been building with these guys the last couple of weeks and been itching to get out on the floor. The training staff has been doing a great job with me, so I’m just happy that I’m out there with the guys now being part of the team.
“It’s a great first start for us.”
The win, however, didn’t start great for Team USA.
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They quickly trailed 10-2 within the first three minutes of the game, in a stretch where they had turned the ball over three times. Durant took off his warmup gear and first stepped foot on the floor with two-and-a-half minutes remaining in the first quarter and the US down by five. By the time the quarter was over, Durant somehow already was Team USA’s leading scorer with six points on two threes and the Americans held a five-point lead.
Their lead grew to nine points at halftime on Durant’s last-second fadeaway jumper. In eight-plus minutes, Durant watched all eight of his shots, and all five of his 3-pointers, kiss the bottom of the net in what was supposed to be a ramping-up game for him.
“We’re very seasoned to the FIBA game,” James said to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Kerith Burke when asked about Durant’s performance. “We’ve played a lot of international basketball when it comes to the Olympics and world championships. To have KD on our side, to have KD on my side, it’s a treat for sure.”
Durant tallied 21 first-half points and totaled a game-high 23, missing his only attempt in the second half and making both his free throws. Serbia also lost to a Durant-less Team USA by 26 points leading up to the Olympics, but he had to be the last person they wanted to see come Sunday.
Team USA twice played Serbia in the 2016 Olympics, first eking out a three-point win in group play. Durant then exploded for 30 points in the gold medal game against Serbia as Team USA cruised to a 30-point victory. Eight years later and he’s still doing damage to a squad that believes they have a very real chance of seeing Team USA again and competing for a medal in Paris.
Every 3-pointer was a chance for Warriors fans to close their eyes and picture Durant draining treys over James in the NBA Finals on his way to winning back-to-back Finals MVPs. Even if he didn’t directly say it, Kerr has been waiting more than five years to have a Durant weapon at his disposal, ever since the night of June 10, 2019, when Durant tore his Achilles in Game 5 of the 2019 Finals – his last in a Warriors jersey.
What Durant pulled off against Serbia can’t be understated. It was his right Achilles Durant tore five years ago, and though he was dealing with a left calf injury this time around, nauseating flashbacks could rightfully keep Kerr up at night. Sleepless nights were then erased by smiles and dreams of the past becoming the present. Durant again showed why he has a strong case as the greatest Olympic men’s basketball player ever.
Durant already is Team USA’s all-time leading scorer in the Olympics, and he now has the most points next to his name through one game on a group of superstars while returning from injury. He’s vying to become the first men’s player to win four Olympic gold medals, and at 6-foot-9 (plus at least two more unofficial inches), Durant remains a scoring machine whose incomparable artillery is forever unmatched on the international stage.