Kevin Durant announces intention to compete in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Kevin Durant informed ESPN of his intention to compete in the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, expressing his discontent with the prevailing narrative surrounding grassroots basketball.
As a four-time gold medalist and the all-time leading scorer for the U.S. men’s Olympic team, Durant will be nearing 40 years of age when the next Games occur. He emphasized the importance of remaining an effective player as a condition for his return to the national team, but he has communicated his plans to managing director Grant Hill.
There was speculation that the Paris Games would mark Durant’s final appearance, alongside LeBron James and Stephen Curry. However, he refuted that notion.
“You guys, the media have projected that,” Durant stated to ESPN. “That narrative, where did the last dance thing come from? I didn’t say I wasn’t playing. LeBron said he wasn’t. You didn’t hear that from me or Steph.”
Curry appears unlikely to participate at this stage, and James has already confirmed he will not take part.
“Hell yeah, I want to play,” Durant remarked. “I would love to, but I have to maintain my performance. I’m not expecting it; I want to contribute on the court and make Grant and whoever is making the decisions want to include me on the team. I don’t want it just for seniority. I want to demonstrate that I can help the team succeed.”
“Today, yeah I feel like I’ll put my name in that hat.”
Durant also expressed his concerns regarding discussions about other nations closing the gap with the U.S., noting that an American player has not won the Most Valuable Player award since 2018, when James Harden received it.
Since then, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have claimed the award, and the United States has faced close contests in international competitions in recent years, particularly in 2024 in Paris.
“I just don’t like the talk around the USA versus European style of how you approach the game,” Durant told ESPN recently. “All I hear is, ‘AAU is destroying the game, the Euros do it right while the Americans do it wrong.’
“It’s a lot of bulls— with that. I can read between the lines on that; it’s a shot at Black Americans. We’re controlling the sport; they’re tired of us controlling the sport.
“‘France is coming for you.’ Really? We smacked them boys.”
