Kevin Durant Told ESPN that he plans to play in the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, while also saying he doesn’t like the narrative surrounding grassroots basketball.
Durant, a four-time gold medalist and the U.S. men’s leading scorer in Olympic competition, will turn 40 during the next Games. Therefore, adding the condition of remaining an effective player as a condition of his return to the US team, he informed managing director Grant Hill of his intentions.
There was also speculation that the Paris Games were going to be Durant’s last Lebron James And Stephen Curry. But he rejected it.
“You guys, the media, have anticipated this,” Durant recently told ESPN. “Where did that narrative, the last dance thing, come from? I didn’t say I wasn’t playing. LeBron said he wasn’t playing. You didn’t hear that from me or Steph.”
It appears that Curry is unlikely to play at this time, and James has already said that he will not participate.
“Yeah, I want to play,” Durant said. “I would love to, but I have to be on top of my game. I’m not expecting, I want to perform on the field and make grants and whoever is making the decisions want to keep me on the team. I don’t want to — not just for seniority. I still want to prove I can help the team win.”
“Today, yes, I feel like I’m going to put my name in that hat.”
Durant also took issue with other countries trying to match the United States, as no American player has won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award since 2018. james harden Earned it.
giannis antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, joel embiid And Shai Gilgeous-Alexander It has since won, and the United States has won close matches in international play in recent years, most notably in Paris 2024.
“I don’t like the discussion about the United States versus the 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.’
“There’s a lot of mess—with it. I can read between the lines on that. It’s a shot at black Americans. We’re controlling the game. They’re tired of us controlling the game.
“‘France is coming for you.’ really? We beat up those boys,” he said.
