Kevin Durant’s Agent Responds to Claims Star Won’t Play in Team USA Olympics Opener

Rumors are swirling around Durant's availability for the Paris games.

Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports

The United States men’s Olympic basketball team went undefeated in their exhibition tune-ups ahead of the Paris games, but they were missing one allegedly 6-foot-11 star: Phoenix Suns’ Kevin Durant.

Durant has sat out of Team USA’s preseason games due to a day-to-day calf injury, having strained his calf before the start of training camp in Las Vegas on July 6. Team USA is set to play Serbia in their Olympics Group C opener on July 28, which will give the 14-time All-Star less than a week to return to the court.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst recently said he doesn’t think Durant will feature in Team USA’s matchup against Serbia. Durant’s longtime agent, Rich Kleiman, would beg to differ.

NBA on ESPN’s Instagram page posted a quote from Windhorst on Tuesday in which the analyst said, “I think [Team USA is] going to be playing Serbia without Kevin Durant.” 

Kleiman left a simple two-word comment: “Not true.”

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Durant, the all-time scoring leader for the U.S. men’s Olympic basketball program, has been sorely missed in the team’s latest exhibition games. Team USA went 5-0 but barely eked out wins over South Sudan and Germany within the past week, thanks to LeBron James’s clutch performances. 

Durant previously helped Team USA take home gold in the last three Olympics and could become the first men’s basketball player to win four gold medals in Olympics history.