NBA free agent Kevin Durant plans on playing this summer for Team USA at the 2016 Rio Olympics, per Royce Young of ESPN, via Marc Stein.
Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant, meanwhile, tells ESPN's @RoyceYoung he is indeed still planning to play for Team USA this summer in Brazil.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 6, 2016
This news is especially welcome on a day in which Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry announced he would not be playing in Rio in order to let his knee heal over the summer (more on that here). Another player who will not make the trip is LaMarcus Aldridge of the San Antonio Spurs. Aldridge is dealing with a finger/hand injury, per Stein.
Noteworthy as it relates to Durant is the issue of NBA free agency. He’ll be juggling quite a few balls as he prepares for the Olympics and finding perhaps a new home for the 2016-17 NBA season and beyond. Lord knows, it seems every team in the Association has Durant rumors buzzing, and he has plenty of viable landing spots.
That Durant plans to play for Team USA is a good sign for a team that already lost a couple of big-time players. No doubt, he’ll be one of the top scorers, given his natural game and international rules. Back in 2012 (London), Durant averaged 19.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game.