Durant is excited to go after his third Olympic gold medal
LAS VEGAS >> 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.”
Beal had it right: Durant is 39-0 in major international events with USA Basketball. He has two NBA championships, two NBA Finals MVP awards. He came back after a yearlong layoff from an Achilles injury this season in Brooklyn and was, again, his typical unguardable self.
There’s long been nothing left for him to prove, and he signed up for another Olympics anyway. Camp started Tuesday and Durant immediately began setting the tone for a roster that is mostly composed of firsttime Olympians other than Durant, Draymond Green and Kevin Love.
U.S. coach Gregg Popovich was a major factor in Durant’s decision. It’s no secret that players around the league hold the longtime San Antonio coach in the highest regard, and Durant said the opportunity to play for the five-time NBA champion factored into his thinking.
“If he had said no, I would have begged, cried, done anything I could to change his mind,” Popovich said. “That’s pretty obvious. But what it says about him, No. 1, is he loves the game. He really loves to play basketball. He loves to win.”
Mike Brown was part of Golden State’s coaching staff when Durant was with the Warriors. Brown is also the coach of the Nigerian Olympic team, meaning he was set to coach against Durant — and his current boss, U.S. assistant coach and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr — when the Americans played the top African team in their first exhibition of this summer’s stay in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
“A lot of people see his scoring prowess,” Brown said. “Obviously, he can shoot the 3, he can post up, his medium game is the best in the business. But when he came to the Warriors, I was shocked by two things. The biggest thing was just his feel and intelligence on the defensive end of the floor ... and then on top of that, he’s a phenomenal passer.”
U.S. LOSES EXHIBITION >> Nigeria shocked the U.S., winning 90-87, pulling off an international shocker with a roster primarily filled of little-known NBA players.
Ike Iroegbu — a former Washington State player who spent some time in the G League — hit a 3-pointer with about 1:15 left to put Nigeria up 88-80. Durant scored the next seven points for the U.S.; a 3-pointer, two free throws, then two more from the line with 16.5 seconds remaining.
Gabe Nnamdi made two foul shots with 13.2 seconds left to restore Nigeria’s 3-point edge.