АНУ-ын шигшээ багийн бүрэлдэхүүнд багтаж, Лос-Анжелес хотод болох олимпын наадамд аварга цолоо хамгаалах нь Кэвин Дурантын дараагийн зорилго болжээ.
Өмнөд Калифорнид болсон буяны үйл ажиллагааны үеэр Кэвин Дурант 2028 оны олимпын наадамд оролцох хүсэлтэй байгаагаа дахин нотоллоо. Тэрээр олимпын наадмын үеэр 40 нас хүрэх дөхсөн байх ч шигшээ багтаа дахин тоглохыг эрмэлзэж байна. Дурант одоогоор АНУ-ын шигшээ багийн олимпын түүхэн дэх хамгийн өндөр оноо авсан тоглогч хэвээр байгаа бөгөөд оролцсон дөрвөн олимп бүрээсээ алтан медаль хүртсэн амжилттай юм.
Дурант олон улсын тэмцээнд оролцохыг маш их таашаадаг бөгөөд энэхүү туршлага нь түүний хувьд зөвхөн сагсан бөмбөгийн төдийгүй амьдралыг харах өнцгийг өөрчилдөг гэжээ. Түүний хуучин дасгалжуулагч Стив Керр Дурантыг АНУ-ын түүхэн дэх FIBA-гийн хамгийн шилдэг тоглогч хэмээн тодорхойлсон бол Грегг Попович “Кэвин байхгүй бол алтан медаль байхгүй” хэмээн онцолж байв.
Шигшээ багийн төлөө тоглох нь тамирчин хүний хувьд эх оронч бахархлыг мэдрүүлдэг гэж Дурант үзэж байна. Тэрээр бусад тоглогчдыг ч олимпын наадамд оролцож, энэхүү том тавцанд өөрийгөө сорихыг уриалдаг. Түүний хувьд энэхүү туршлага нь NBA-ийн улирлын туршид үргэлжлэх хүнд ачааллаас ангид, сагсан бөмбөгийн хамгийн цэвэр мэдрэмжийг өгдөг байна.
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In less than two years, the United States men’s 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 event in Southern California and doubled down on his desire to play for Team USA in 2028. It would mark Durant’s fifth Olympics, and every point he scores would extend his lead as Team USA’s all-time Olympic scoring leader, men’s or women’s.
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’s 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.
“It’s just fun, man,” Durant told The Athletic late last season. “It’s an incredible time. You get to travel the world. I don’t know if we’re 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 … being in places that changed not just my perspective about the game, just about life in general. I’ve been in places I’ve never even thought about being in if it wasn’t for the game. That experience is one of the best, man. I encourage everybody to play for their country.”
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’s 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’s talent translates so well to the international game.
“No. 1, FIBA is six weeks,” Kerr told The Athletic. “You don’t have much time to build continuity. You don’t 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 — a game with different rules, different players — you’re going against guys you don’t know. Kevin Durant’s perfect for that. Throw the ball to Kevin.”
Former Team USA coach Gregg Popovich put it even more simply after coaching Durant in the Tokyo Games in 2021.
“No Kevin, no gold.”
When told of Kerr’s words, Durant took them to heart.
“I’m humbled and honored to get that recognition,” Durant said. “So many great players have played. They probably didn’t play as long as me; that’s probably why I get that. I’ve been on four Olympic teams. We’ve won gold every time, so I’ve just been around. I show up.
“I think that’s what my career has been based upon, just showing up and letting the chips fall where they may. … I experienced some great coaching with Team USA, and that’s really what brings me back.”
Longtime Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who served as an assistant on Kerr’s staff in Paris, is now Team USA’s 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.
“The pride of your country that you represent in your small section of the country on the big stage,” said Durant, who grew up in the Washington D.C. area. “Playing with the best of the best to ever play the game. And coached by the best of the best. It’s a no-brainer to go.”
Kevin Durant wrapped himself with the American flag after the U.S. men’s basketball team won Olympic gold in 2024. (Kyle Terada / USA Today via Reuters Connect)
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.
“Bol Bol had the chance to play for South Sudan, and I was encouraging him to do so,” Durant said. “I think he might have been injured, but I’m like, man, you need to go experience the Olympics. … 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.”
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.
“He also loves FIBA,” Kerr said. “He 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— that you have to go through for eight months, and it becomes the most pure sporting experience of a player’s life at that level. Kevin, at his core, he loves basketball as much as anybody I’ve ever been around.”
Last season, Durant spoke about that love 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.
“You just never know who’s watching you,” Durant said. “It definitely resonates and makes you go harder. Just knowing that I can impact people in a positive way all around the world … I didn’t know that. From turning on your TV, and people coming up to me with KD tattoos and s— when I’m in China. People coming up — I’m in Italy walking in the background, and people walking behind me. There’s 30 people following me, chanting my name.”
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.
“Obviously, the NBA was well known,” Durant said. “But that was a moment where you have all the same players on one court, and you’re out there playing against the world. It’s like, ‘Damn, 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.’ If you were a fan already in Turkey or Germany: ‘This is interesting. What is this?’ Boom.
“And then, our league has grown. … From then to now, the game has reached so many people, man. I’m 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.”
