A gradual begin within the 2024 Paris Olympics might have been excused — and even anticipated — from Kevin Durant. Durant had missed a month of follow with Workforce USA with a calf harm, and didn’t play a second within the group’s unblemished tune-up slate. With the Individuals beginning their gold medal protection on Sunday towards Nikola Jokic and Serbia, Durant was cleared to play and tabbed as a reserve off the bench. Something he gave the U.S. ought to have been thought-about gravy after such an extended layoff.
As an alternative, Durant took over the sport and turned in one of many higher performances in males’s Olympic basketball historical past. USA Basketball beat Serbia, 110-84, behind a stunning shot-making show from KD that noticed him hit dagger after dagger everywhere in the courtroom.
Durant hit his first eight photographs from the sphere and went an ideal 5-for-5 from three-point vary in an unimaginable 23-point effort within the win. He’s the kind of nuclear off-ball shooter Workforce USA wanted to look actually unbeatable, and it’s clear he didn’t miss a beat after the harm. Watch highlights from Durant’s efficiency right here:
Durant has a case as the best males’s basketball participant in Olympic historical past. He entered the Paris video games with three gold medals to his identify with Workforce USA in 2012, 2016, and 2021. No males’s basketball participant has ever received 4 gold medals, and KD might be the primary if the U.S. accomplishes what it’s favored to do.
Durant’s run within the Tokyo Olympics just a few years in the past licensed his legend. He carried the USA to a gold medal virtually by himself, main the group in scoring (20.7 factors per sport) whereas being second in rebounds, assists, and blocks. Within the course of, Durant surpassed Carmelo Anthony as Workforce USA’s all-time main scorer.
If the Tokyo Video games secured Durant’s Olympic legacy, the Paris Video games supply a reminder that he’s nonetheless on the prime of his sport. Durant is about to show 36 years outdated earlier than subsequent season begins, however there’s all the time been a futuristic high quality about his sport: 6’11 with guard abilities, limitless vary, and the power to hit photographs that no defender on Earth (count on for perhaps Victor Wembanyama?) has an opportunity to contest.
Right here’s Durant ripping a 3 over Jokic:
And right here he’s coming down and drilling one other triple:
Durant is a superb participant in any scenario, however this USA roster has the right infrastructure to get the most effective out of him. LeBron James is Workforce USA’s lead initiator on the ball. Stephen Curry can deal with some creation duties too, however is usually utilizing his capturing gravity to open up house for everybody else. Add in a giant man like Anthony Davis demanding consideration within the paint, and it’s unimaginable to cowl all the United States’ weapons.
When the ball swings across the perimeter, the open man is usually Durant. Good luck attempting to cease him with one of many sweetest strokes in basketball historical past and an unprecedented bag of perimeter scoring strikes for somebody along with his dimension.
The great thing about the U.S. males’s basketball roster is that they don’t want Durant to be their singular celebrity like final time in Tokyo. With LeBron and Steph and a ridiculously proficient solid of gamers round them, KD can simply be one of many guys. In that context, nobody can cease him.
