{"id":159465,"date":"2025-09-18T11:29:28","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T15:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=159465"},"modified":"2025-09-18T11:29:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T15:29:28","slug":"kevin-durant-team-usa-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/18\/kevin-durant-team-usa-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Team USA Icon Kevin Durant Remains Open to LA &#8217;28"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There doesn&#8217;t appear to be any slowing down <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/duranke01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kevin Durant<\/a>. When it comes to a possible Team USA appearance when the Summer Olympics touch down in <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/18\/clippers-risk-losing-record-streak-due-to-kawhi-drama\/\" target=\"_self\">Los Angeles<\/a> in three years, KD is open. The fact that he is still considering the this goes to show how much he loves the game of basketball. It also shows that Durant isn&#8217;t slowing down, and the last few NBA seasons have proved that. That said, with the controversy surrounding <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/tatumja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jayson Tatum<\/a> in Paris two summers ago, playing time for the young stars, and the crop of younger NBA talent who want their crack at the Olympics in the future, it would make sense for the Team USA brass to go with the &#8220;out with the old, in with the new&#8221; mantra. If Durant is still playing at an all-world level in &#8217;28 and wants to suit up, can they turn him away? Durant recently spoke about playing in LA and what it would depend on.<\/p>\n<h2>Team USA Icon Kevin Durant Remains Open to LA &#8217;28<\/h2>\n<h3>Kevin Durant hasn&#8217;t drawn the curtains on one last Olympics run with Team USA as long as he&#8217;s still himself<\/h3>\n<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LeBron James<\/a> has already stated on record that the likelihood of him playing in &#8217;28 is next to zero. It&#8217;s remarkable alone that James is still playing as well as he is <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/17\/lakers-lebron-james-historic-record-breaking-season\/\" target=\"_self\">entering into his record-breaking 23rd season<\/a>. But where will he be three years from now? That&#8217;s a major question. Of course, there have been murmurings recently that he could extend his career until his other son, Bryce, enters the NBA. LeBron would have the chance to share the floor with his second son then. Who knows what will happen down the road. Still, he has made it pretty clear that playing in another Olympics is almost surely out the window.<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Durant, LeBron&#8217;s Team USA teammate a few times over, isn&#8217;t so sure his path follows the same trajectory. When it comes to the Olympics or international play of any kind within the basketball realm, outside of <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/anthoca01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carmelo Anthony<\/a>, Durant is undeniably the greatest ever to put on a Team USA jersey. During a recent appearance at the CNBC x Boardroom&#8217;s GamePlan 2025 Summit,\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/LawMurrayTheNU\/status\/1968103633771524335\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">KD spoke on his openness to playing in &#8217;28<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, and he has not shut down the possibility entirely.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Yeah, if I&#8217;m still me,&#8221; Durant said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t wanna be the veteran like &#8216;come sit on the bench and get your fifth. I still enjoy going to the gym everyday, so, that&#8217;s a start.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Kevin Durant on interest in playing in 2028 Olympics: \u201cYeah, if I\u2019m still me\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Adds that some days he would want to coach, some days he wouldn\u2019t<\/p>\n<p>And if he still wants to own a team <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/boardroom?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@boardroom<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/GamePlan25?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#GamePlan25<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jaJ6OEN4Ez\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/jaJ6OEN4Ez<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Law Murray \u2753 (@LawMurrayTheNU) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LawMurrayTheNU\/status\/1968103633771524335?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 17, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Durant&#8217;s run in Houston could determine his spot with the &#8217;28 Olympic team<\/h3>\n<p>The fact that Durant still possesses the drive and motivation to be in the gym daily, even in the latter stages of his career, is scary. One could argue that Durant, over the past few years, has been the best version of Durant throughout his entire career. The winning hasn&#8217;t come with his performance or production, unfortunately. However, his statistics and the eye test prove Durant is still dominating.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_159469\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-159469\" style=\"width: 2560px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-159469 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/09\/USATSI_26304069_168415519_lowres-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Kevin Durant\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/09\/USATSI_26304069_168415519_lowres-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/09\/USATSI_26304069_168415519_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/09\/USATSI_26304069_168415519_lowres-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/09\/USATSI_26304069_168415519_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/09\/USATSI_26304069_168415519_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/09\/USATSI_26304069_168415519_lowres-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/09\/USATSI_26304069_168415519_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/09\/USATSI_26304069_168415519_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-159469\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">May 27, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Kevin Durant attends a WNBA game between the Atlanta Dream and LA Sparks at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>About to begin a new chapter with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/07\/rockets-2025-26-predictions-new-signing-gone-trade-deadline-dorian-finney-smith\/\" target=\"_self\">Houston Rockets<\/a>, Durant is expected to help the franchise compete for a championship. The Rockets have made strong pushes the last two years. The move to trade for Durant was meant to push them over. If Durant remains a top player in the league, and he continues to play at the level he has recently, it should not surprise anyone if he&#8217;s Olympic-ready by &#8217;28. If that turns out to be the case, Durant will indeed have a shot at a fifth. That feat would only further his Team USA legend as the greatest American Olympic basketball player of all-time.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"modal-image-setImageMetadata\">\n<p class=\"ng-binding\">\u00a9 John David Mercer-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<div class=\"modal-image-setImageMetadata\">\n<p class=\"ng-binding\">\u00a9 Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There doesn&#8217;t appear to be any slowing down Kevin Durant. When it comes to a possible Team USA appearance when the Summer Olympics touch down in Los Angeles in three years, KD is open. The fact that he is still considering the this goes to show how much he loves the game of basketball. It [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5081,"featured_media":159466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1608,62,60],"tags":[67,798,69,38],"class_list":["post-159465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-basketball","category-nba","category-olympics","tag-carmelo-anthony","tag-jayson-tatum","tag-kevin-durant","tag-lebron-james"],"modified_by":"Aaron J Zacharias","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5081"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159465"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":159472,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159465\/revisions\/159472"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}