Aug 6, 2021; Saitama, Japan; USA men’s team player Kevin Durant looks on as the United States play Serbia in the women’s basketball semifinal during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Summer Games at Saitama Super Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kareem Elgazzar-Imagn Images If Team USA calls Kevin Durant for a shot at his fifth Gold medal in the 2028 Olympics, he plans to be ready.
Durant will be 39 in 2028 when Los Angeles hosts the Summer Games. Only women’s stars Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird, with six and five gold medals respectively for Team USA, have won more golds in basketball than Durant.
“Hell yeah, I want to play,” Durant said. “I would love to, but I’ve got to stay on top of my game. I’m not expecting, I want to produce on the floor and make (USA Basketball president) Grant (Hill) and whoever is making the decisions, want to put me on the team. I don’t want — not just for seniority. I want to still prove I can help the team win. Today, yeah I feel like I’ll put my name in that hat.”
The self-described gym junkie said if he remains effective on the court as age 40 approaches, there is no reason he wouldn’t be open to another run in the Olympics despite a working narrative that LeBron James, Steph Curry and Durant were all unlikely to be back with Team USA. Curry turns 38 next month. James is 41.
“You guys, the media, have projected that. I didn’t say I wasn’t playing. LeBron said he wasn’t,” Durant told ESPN. “You didn’t hear that from me or Steph.”
Durant told ESPN he views the criticism of American basketball being “ruined” by Curry or the AAU style of play as a racial critique.
“I just don’t like the talk around the USA versus European style of how you approach the game,” Durant told ESPN. “All I hear is, ‘AAU is destroying the game, the Euros do it right while the Americans do it wrong.’ It’s a lot of bulls– with that. I can read between the lines on that. It’s a shot at Black Americans. We’re controlling the sport. They’re tired of us controlling the sport. ‘France is coming for you.’ Really? We smacked them boys.”
–Field Level Media
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