Although Kevin Durant was unable to participate in the United States men’s basketball team’s five-game exhibition schedule due to a calf injury, his agency is optimistic that he will be able to play in Sunday’s opening Olympic game against Serbia.

 

Specifically, Rich Kleiman disputed ESPN’s Brian Windhorst’s claim that the U.S. could function without Durant, calling it “not true.”Before the Olympics, Team USA had to trade Kawhi Leonard for Derrick White due to an injury, but head coach Steve Kerr was against trading Durant for Leonard.

Even though the Phoenix Suns player has a calf injury, he assured reporters that there has been “no thought” of replacing him:It appears as though the future Hall of Famer will be donning the Red, White, and Blue jerseys in the near future, what with Kleiman’s remark and a report from Joe Vardon of The Athletic stating Durant is day-to-day.

This is what Durant had to say: “I’ve seen progress every day,” according to AP’s Tim Reynolds. This is just one of such instances. You must keep an eye on it daily. When I finish a few exercises, I will report back on how I feel. Just keep going and I’ll take it from there.

We didn’t need to make a big deal out of the exhibition schedule because the Americans were just practicing for the real Olympics. Even without him, they managed to go unbeaten (albeit it was far from easy).Against South Sudan by a single point and Germany by four points, LeBron James came through in the clutch for the team. Similarly, Team USA only managed a six-point victory over Australia and had offensive struggles versus Canada.

Having the top scorer in men’s Olympic history return to Team USA is sure to be a huge boost.

As a member of the U.S. national basketball team, Durant has the chance to become the first man to win four gold medals in the Olympics, having done it in 2012, 2016, and 2020.

As he works to recover from his disability, that must be giving him a great deal of inspiration.