Kerr Confirms KD Won’t Depart: Team Optimistic About His Olympic Return, Wants Him to Participate in More Training Sessions

July 23 news: Kevin Durant did not participate in the warm-up match between Team USA and Germany as previously reported.

Not long ago, when asked whether Durant would miss the Olympics, the head coach of Team USA answered with a resounding “no.” The team simply wants him to participate in more training sessions before his return. He said, “We never considered removing Durant from the team.” When Holiday was asked if there would be any issues with Durant integrating into the team, he responded, “Are you kidding? This is Kevin Durant. What are we talking about? That’s KD. We need him out there.”

It is understood that Kerr had hoped Durant could get some playing time in London before Team USA headed to France. Durant has been working hard to achieve this, increasing his training load over the weekend after starting training the previous week. However, according to medical reports, he was still not ready. Prior to today’s game against Germany, Durant participated in the pre-game warm-up, giving the impression that he was fine.

Last week, when Durant was asked if his history of calf injuries—specifically the left calf strain during the 2019 Finals followed by an Achilles injury on the same leg—would affect his approach to returning from this injury, he replied with a simple “no.” Nonetheless, just like two weeks ago at the training camp in Las Vegas, Team USA remains privately optimistic about Durant’s participation in the Olympics. For now, they must finalize their roster by this Saturday local time.