Kevin Durant and Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns have confirmed that they will participate in the 2017 Summer Olympics in Paris if Grant Hill and USA Basketball choose them.
Those contests are six months away, with the international basketball competition starting on July 27.
“I’d love to.” I’d love to play. That’s the aim,” Durant said following a recent game at the Footprint Center in Phoenix. “It is still early. You never know what might happen. You never know who will be involved. But right now, I’d want to play.”
Both he and Booker were on the group that battled despite winning the gold medal at the postponed Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2021, the United States’ fourth gold in a row and seventh in the last eight. Hill, who replaced Jerry Colangelo as executive director of the USA men’s team, said this week that 25 NBA stars had been added to the pool of 41 players.
Durant, 35, is the all-time Olympic scorer with 435 points in 22 games, surpassing Carmelo Anthony in Japan, while Booker, 27, has developed into one of the NBA’s finest guards.
“I want to be there. “I want to participate,” Booker stated. “The first experience was fantastic, and you will never get it back. I hope to be a part of the next one as well.”
Hill and new head coach Steve Kerr, who succeeded Gregg Popovich, will have the challenge of reducing the roster to 12 players before the games start. Their Las Vegas camp and three-game exhibition schedule are set for July, with the United States set to face Canada at T-Mobile Arena on July 10. The other two games are in London and Germany, so urgent decisions must be made.
“Assuming everyone stays healthy, and everyone’s interest level continues as it is, we have a chance to have a very special group, a team that has a lot of star power, but also a team that just has a lot of balance, a lot of versatility and will give us an opportunity of winning a gold medal in Paris,” Hill said in a statement.
Kerr was Popovich’s assistant coach on the last Olympic team. Durant, of course, also played under Kerr at Golden State, where the two teamed to win two of the Warriors’ four NBA championships, in 2017 and 2018.
“I can’t wait for that,” Durant remarked. “I hope I get a chance again to play for him.”
The NBA roster contains a who’s who of elite players, including LeBron James, Steph Curry, Anthony Davis, James Harden, and Joel Embiid, all of whom want to wear the USA uniform this time. It’s reminiscent of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen, and Charles Barkley’s 1992 Dream Team, which won gold at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
Durant dubbed this the “Dream Team 2.0.”
“It is going to be great. “I can’t wait,” he stated. “Back then, Bird was on the elder side. Magic returned to play after getting HIV, and he was on his way out as well. But we have players who are still in their prime playing. That is how I feel about myself and LeBron, I suppose. We’re getting older, but we’re still playing quality baseball.”
The majority of the NBA’s big stars did not participate in Japan, which had a ragtag squad that included three players—Booker, Milwaukee’s Jrue Holiday, and Khris Middleton—who all had to fly overnight to Tokyo following the NBA Finals. That season concluded with the Bucks defeating the Suns in six games, just before the start of the Olympic basketball tournament.
The epidemic forced a two-month delay in the start of the 2020-21 NBA season, as well as a year-long postponement of the Tokyo Olympics. Due to the overlap and lack of stability, the majority of the star players stayed at home. Four players made the active roster despite not attending the pre-Olympic training in Las Vegas. Bradley Beal and Kevin Love made the team but did not fly to Tokyo because Love withdrew and Beal was placed under health and safety regulations. Other notable USA players were Damian Lillard, Jayson Tatum, and Draymond Green.
That is not the situation now.
“What’s been a pleasant surprise, particularly on the 50-year anniversary of USA Basketball, is to have guys who’ve been a part of the program, guys who put equity and have ownership and have played a direct role in its success, still express an interest in being a part of it,” Hill told ESPN.
Colangelo and Popovich likely performed their best in the event, which, like the 2020 NBA playoffs, was held in a bubble.
Durant was the glue, but a lack of togetherness resulted in an early loss to France, putting the United States in a must-win situation in each subsequent game until it defeated the French, 87-82, in a rematch to capture the gold medal.
Durant recalls a team meeting after the team’s loss against France, where they emphasized the need of unity and purpose. Each of us is unique. We can’t pretend we’re terrified of each other. We cannot play as if we are trying not to step on each other’s toes. We have to be aggressive. When given the opportunity, be yourself. We took off once we realized what was happening.”
