Kevin Durant’s availability against Australia remains unclear (Picture Credits: IMAGN)
Kevin Durant is expected to miss another Team USA exhibition game leading up to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The former NBA MVP will be missing Team USA’s match against the Australian national team on July 15 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), making his second straight absence for the national team as he nurses a calf strain.
The team has been taking Durant’s injury day by day and has not discussed about replacing him in their 12-man roster for the Olympics. Durant also missed the team’s exhibition showcase versus the Canadian national team on July 12.
According to a report by ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, Durant has been suffering from a calf strain for a couple of weeks now and has also missed a series of practices in that span. In fact, Durant has not participated in any Team USA practice yet, but he has been with the team in their Las Vegas camp since last week.
“I know there’s still a couple of weeks before we have to make a decision roster-wise,” Team USA head coach Steve Kerr said. “So we’re just taking it day by day.”
Durant is one of the four former NBA MVPs in the Team USA roster that includes Golden State Warriors’ Steph Curry, Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James, and Philadelphia 76ers Joel Embiid. Durant won the MVP award in 2014, when he was still playing with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The current Phoenix Suns star has been Team USA’s all-time Olympic scorer with 435 points.
In the Paris Games next month, Durant will be gunning for his fourth Olympic gold medal after being part of the 2012, 2016, and 2021 Olympic basketball teams.
With Durant’s health in question, Team USA might face huge setback if the NBA superstar misses the Olympic tournament starting July 27, where they are grouped with Nikola Jokic’s Serbia, Jose Alvarado’s Puerto Rico, and South Sudan.
Steve Kerr unconcerned about Kevin Durant’s status
Despite Durant’s questionable status in the past games, head coach Steve Kerr remains unconcerned about his health even as the Olympics nears.
Talking to reporters on July 13, Kerr claimed that the plan for now is to keep Durant with the team as they are confident that he will recover for the games.
“It’s not something we’ve even discussed at this point because we feel good that [Durant] is going to be OK,” Kerr said.Earlier in the week, Team USA also lost two-time NBA champion Kawhi Leonard to a knee injury, replacing him with the Boston Celtics’ Derrick White.
After the game versus Australia, Team USA will then face Serbia in an exhibition game on July 17 before flying to London, England for a couple of exhibition matchups versus South Sudan and Germany.
