Kevin Durant’s Honest Take on Battling Joel Embiid Head-to-Head

Joel Embiid and Kevin Durant could have a head-to-head battle this summer.

With summer around the corner, several NBA superstars are preparing to suit up and play for Team USA at the 2024 Olympic Games.

Among those expected to represent the USA is Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid. Although Embiid had multiple options, he committed to the USA during the offseason as the Sixers prepared for the 2023-2024 NBA season in a training camp out in Colorado.

According to The Athletic, some of the other notable players expected to compete with USA are Devin Booker, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, and Kevin Durant.

While a handful of guys set to represent the U.S. this year are veterans of the Olympics, Embiid will represent the NBA on an international stage for the first time in his career. Therefore, he’ll be going toe-to-toe with the best of the best in games and especially in practice, where he’ll be sharpening his toolset against All-Star caliber players on a daily basis.

To a player like Durant, going head-to-head against some of the NBA’s top talent to prepare for the Olympics is one of the best parts about being rostered on the national team. When his agent, Rich Kleiman, presented Durant with the idea that he might have to go against Embiid in a one-on-one situation, the Phoenix Suns superstar had some reservations.

“I don’t know about Joel,” Durant said, according to AZ Central’s Duane Rankin. “I don’t know if I can go ones with him. He might just hit me with the shoulder.”

There aren’t many players in the NBA who can go toe-to-toe with the versatile seven-footer, hence the reason why Embiid typically draws a gang of defenders on most of his offensive possessions. 

Yet, despite the amount of attention he garners from defenses, Embiid still finds ways to score and has managed to lead the league in points per game over the last two years. 

There might’ve been some skepticism surrounding Embiid’s Olympic eligibility recently, as he recovers from a knee injury, which required surgery last month. While anything can happen between early March and the end of the current NBA season, Embiid confirmed recently that as long as he’s healthy, he plans to play in Paris this summer.

Therefore, Embiid will have a valuable opportunity in front of him as he’ll get a chance to consistently work on his game alongside Durant and other NBA superstars while competing on a world stage.