{"id":2139481,"date":"2026-09-11T10:00:52","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T07:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2139481"},"modified":"2026-09-11T10:00:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T07:00:52","slug":"kevin-durant-wants-a-fifth-olympics-with-team-usa-its-just-fun-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2139481","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Durant wants a fifth Olympics with Team USA: \u2018It\u2019s just fun, man\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In less than two years, the United States men\u2019s basketball team will be in Los Angeles, looking to defend its Olympic title. Kevin Durant, who will be a couple of months shy of turning 40 years old when the Summer Olympics start, still wants to be there.<\/p>\n

Durant recently spoke at a USA Basketball charity event in Southern California and doubled down on his desire to play for Team USA in 2028. It would mark Durant\u2019s fifth Olympics, and every point he scores would extend his lead as Team USA\u2019s all-time Olympic scoring leader, men\u2019s or women\u2019s.<\/p>\n

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Durant, who averaged 26 points a game last season for the Houston Rockets, is still near the top of his game. His legacy as one of the game\u2019s all-time greats is secure. But with the Olympics returning to the United States, he has a simple reason for wanting to do it again.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just fun, man,\u201d Durant told The Athletic<\/i> late last season. \u201cIt\u2019s an incredible time. You get to travel the world. I don\u2019t know if we\u2019re gonna get to travel the world with it being in the States, but the last few years, we would go (to) Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Paris, London, Canary Islands, Madrid \u2026 being in places that changed not just my perspective about the game, just about life in general. I\u2019ve been in places I\u2019ve never even thought about being in if it wasn\u2019t for the game. That experience is one of the best, man. I encourage everybody to play for their country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before a game against Durant and the Rockets in March, his former Golden State Warriors coach and 2024 Team USA coach Steve Kerr called Durant the greatest men\u2019s FIBA player in American history. After all, Durant has helped Team USA win four straight gold medals. A few weeks later, Kerr explained why Durant\u2019s talent translates so well to the international game.<\/p>\n

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\u201cNo. 1, FIBA is six weeks,\u201d Kerr told The Athletic<\/i>. \u201cYou don\u2019t have much time to build continuity. You don\u2019t have much time to install a system. Kevin is, like, the most lethal scorer, one of the most lethal scorers in the history of basketball. So, if you need to get a basket and you only have five days of practice and then these games \u2014 a game with different rules, different players \u2014 you\u2019re going against guys you don\u2019t know. Kevin Durant\u2019s perfect for that. Throw the ball to Kevin.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Former Team USA coach Gregg Popovich put it even more simply after coaching Durant in the Tokyo Games in 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo Kevin, no gold.\u201d<\/p>\n

When told of Kerr\u2019s words, Durant took them to heart.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m humbled and honored to get that recognition,\u201d Durant said. \u201cSo many great players have played. They probably didn\u2019t play as long as me; that\u2019s probably why I get that. I\u2019ve been on four Olympic teams. We\u2019ve won gold every time, so I\u2019ve just been around. I show up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s what my career has been based upon, just showing up and letting the chips fall where they may. \u2026 I experienced some great coaching with Team USA, and that\u2019s really what brings me back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Longtime Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who served as an assistant on Kerr\u2019s staff in Paris, is now Team USA\u2019s head coach and has long drawn praise for how he runs the Heat. What so many members of Team USA seem to thrive upon is the pride they take in representing their country on the world stage. That emotion still drives Durant to compete.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pride of your country that you represent in your small section of the country on the big stage,\u201d said Durant, who grew up in the Washington D.C. area. \u201cPlaying with the best of the best to ever play the game. And coached by the best of the best. It\u2019s a no-brainer to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Kevin Durant wrapped himself with the American flag after the U.S. men\u2019s basketball team won Olympic gold in 2024. (Kyle Terada \/ USA Today via Reuters Connect)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Durant has been so moved by representing Team USA that he has encouraged other players to take advantage of the Olympic experience whenever it presents itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cBol Bol had the chance to play for South Sudan, and I was encouraging him to do so,\u201d Durant said. \u201cI think he might have been injured, but I\u2019m like, man, you need to go experience the Olympics. \u2026 Being able to play on that stage and see the pride that people have for where they come from, I think every player should experience that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kerr witnessed that passion firsthand. He has long praised Durant for his preparation through the day-to-day grind of an NBA season. With Team USA, he saw something else. He saw how much Durant loves representing the red, white and blue.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe also loves FIBA,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cHe loves the experience of being on a team, with all these guys who he is normally competing against. I think he likes the travel. I think he likes eliminating the NBA bulls\u2014 that you have to go through for eight months, and it becomes the most pure sporting experience of a player\u2019s life at that level. Kevin, at his core, he loves basketball as much as anybody I\u2019ve ever been around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last season, Durant spoke about that love<\/a> and what it means to pass along wisdom to younger players who grew up idolizing him. He knows how much representing Team USA on the world stage has meant not only for him, but for all the young players who watch him all over the globe.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just never know who\u2019s watching you,\u201d Durant said. \u201cIt definitely resonates and makes you go harder. Just knowing that I can impact people in a positive way all around the world \u2026 I didn\u2019t know that. From turning on your TV, and people coming up to me with KD tattoos and s\u2014 when I\u2019m in China. People coming up \u2014 I\u2019m in Italy walking in the background, and people walking behind me. There\u2019s 30 people following me, chanting my name.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Durant eyes a fifth Olympics, he does so with an appreciation for what he believes did more than anything to globalize the game: the creation of the 1992 Dream Team in Barcelona. Like so many others, Durant believes that collection of American stars ushered the game into a new era.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, the NBA was well known,\u201d Durant said. \u201cBut that was a moment where you have all the same players on one court, and you\u2019re out there playing against the world. It\u2019s like, \u2018Damn, this is the best the NBA has to offer right here. Let me tune into this going forward. Let me see these guys play against each other now.\u2019 If you were a fan already in Turkey or Germany: \u2018This is interesting. What is this?\u2019 Boom.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then, our league has grown. \u2026 From then to now, the game has reached so many people, man. I\u2019m just grateful that I can walk around and people just show me respect and love for what I do on the basketball court and (for) inspiring some people. That keeps me going, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In less than two years, the United States men\u2019s basketball team will be in Los Angeles, looking to defend its Olympic title. Kevin Durant, who will be a couple of months shy of turning 40 years old when the Summer Olympics start, still wants to be there. Durant recently spoke at a USA Basketball charity […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-2139481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2139481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2139481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2139481\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2139481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2139481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2139481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}