VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France — Kevin Durant, the U.S. men’s basketball basketball star who has not played in five pre-Olympics exhibition games with a sore calf, went through a non-contact practice at Pierre Mauroy Stadium on Wednesday, but his status remains unclear for the team’s Group C opener Sunday against Serbia.
‘We will do some live stuff (Thursday), so the plan is for him to get in the scrimmage and see how he handles that,’ U.S. coach Steve Kerr said following practice at the massive soccer stadium turned basketball arena nearly 140 miles north of Paris. ‘But yeah, he looked good (Wednesday), and he did everything and got a lot of shots up and told me he’s feeling pretty good.’
The U.S. was 5-0 in the exhibition games but had close wins against South Sudan (101-100) and Germany (92-88), and Durant, USA Basketball’s all-time leading men’s Olympic scorer, would give the U.S. a significant boost. He is also trying to become the first American male to win four gold medals in men’s basketball.
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The U.S. already had to replace Kawhi Leonard (recovering from a knee injury) with Derrick White, but Kerr said there is not concern now that Durant won’t be able to play in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Kerr said USA Basketball men’s team managing director Grant Hill is in communication with team trainers, Durant’s management and the Phoenix Suns. Hill said after the first U.S. exhibition game against Canada on July 10 that he expected Durant to return for one of the next four exhibition games. That didn’t happen.
‘This is not going to be like us going out and saying, ‘Hey, let’s just throw him out there,” Kerr said. ‘This will be a big collaboration.’
Durant is expected to talk with reporters Thursday in Paris.