'He loves to win': Durant seeking a third Olympic gold medal
LAS VEGAS (AP) — USA Basketball didn’t blow up Kevin Durant’s phone with repeated calls to beg and plead for him to play in the Tokyo Olympics. It was a much more dignified process: They asked, then they waited.
It was the right move.
“They helped me make the decision by letting me be me,” Durant said.
Already an owner of two Olympic gold medals, Durant ultimately chose to try for three. The Brooklyn Nets forward will lead the U.S. Olympic team into Tokyo this month and could become just the second men’s player in USA Basketball history to win three golds, joining Carmelo Anthony.
And not that this matters to Durant, because it doesn’t, but he could simply rewrite the USA Basketball Olympic record book in the next few weeks as well.
“I committed to USA Basketball when I was coming out of college, and every chance that I get that I’m healthy and my mind’s in the right place to play basketball, I go out there and play,” Durant said. “I finished the year off healthy, regular season and playoffs. So, I felt like it’d be cool to get I guess a kickstart on next season by getting in shape a lot earlier in the summer with Team USA.”
Already the top 3-point shooter in U.S. men’s Olympic history, Durant is 25 points shy of tying Anthony (336) for the most in team Olympic play, 39 rebounds away from Anthony’s mark in rebounds (125), 12 away from Anthony’s mark in field goals made (113), three away from Anthony’s mark in free throws made (53).
“You know his famous quote? ‘I am Kevin Durant.’There’s nothing changing,” U.S. guard Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards said. “We know who he is. We know what he’s capable of doing and he’s doing the same thing in practice ... and his leadership is just terrific. He’s like 39-0 in USA Basketball. That’s crazy and we want to keep that going.”---AP