Why USA teammates were in awe of Kevin Durant's return

PARIS — It’s not a distinction anyone really wants, though its value is unquestioned: Kevin Durant has proven he’s probably the greatest player in basketball history when recovering from injury.

Short term, long term or medium term throughout 17 years in the NBA and now five summers with USA Basketball, Durant has repeatedly and relentlessly overcome setbacks to deliver world-class performances. The latest being his 23-point explosion by making 8 of 9 shots in just 17 minutes off the bench in Team USA’s dominant win over three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and gold medal contender Serbia in Sunday’s Olympic opener.

But his American teammates didn’t just witness the moment themselves, they saw how it really happened. Durant has a secret when it comes to this feat, not that he has ever tried to hide it:

He practices at full speed.

And that, USA Basketball officials said, was the underlying factor in why they ultimately had confidence in bringing back Durant after not playing a minute in Team USA’s pre-Olympic tuneups and not even playing full-on 5-on-5 basketball since the Phoenix Suns‘ season ended in late April.

This may sound like a basic tenant of athletics, but it is, in fact, an outlier for NBA stars of Durant’s age (35), especially given that this is the offseason. There’s a desire to save energy during the grind of international travel for players who carry big burdens throughout the rest of the year for their NBA teams.

Durant’s work ethic is already legendary, but he showed his practice ethic in a series of workouts last week that were the building blocks toward his instant breakout against Serbia.

“I think he even goes even harder in practice,” LeBron James, who is playing alongside Durant for the first time since the 2012 London Olympics, said after Sunday’s win. “So when the game starts, it’s just routine for him.”

There was even a viral moment from practice last week, when a photo was posted of Anthony Edwards dunking on Durant during what really was a vitally important scrimmage in his return.

Durant even reposted the photo and joked, “I tried Jennifer” in reference to an old CJ McCollum social media trope. But it was a glimpse into how hard Durant was going in those workouts.

“That’s why he the best, man. He loves to compete,” Edwards said. “I don’t feel like anybody else would’ve jumped in that situation, but he jumped. He knew what the consequences were.”

Team USA trainers and staff from the Suns, who accompanied Durant during rehab in both Abu Dhabi and London during the pre-Olympic run-up, monitored his right calf carefully. And sometimes, even if it frustrated Durant, they had to slow him down in his recovery process over the past month.

But when he was cleared to practice, Durant was at full power. That included some post-practice work with Bam Adebayo, who was on the 2020 Olympic team with Durant in Tokyo, Suns teammate Devin Booker and Joel Embiid, who has been doing his own recovery from a late NBA-season knee issue.

Adebayo served as the special practice defender for Durant. The first-team All-Defensive big man had a message for him: If Durant could score on Adebayo as he worked his way back from the injury, he could score on anyone in the Olympic tournament.

“I love Bam, and he was right,” Durant said. “We’ve been working out since I was able to work out and move around with the team. It’s made us all better, and as much as I can get on this floor with guys like that it’s good.”

After Team USA canceled plans for Durant to play in London when his recovery slowed, it looked like Durant might not be able to get through a checklist of hurdles that trainers and coaches wanted to see in time to face Serbia. But as the Americans went through workouts, first in Lille and then in Paris, over the past week and they watched him test himself with such intensity, confidence in Durant’s health continued.

No one’s confidence grew more than that of his current, and former, head coach.

“I’ve obviously coached Kevin for three years [with Golden State] and, maybe more than any player I’ve ever been around, when he comes back from a long absence, you don’t notice it,” Team USA coach Steve Kerr said.

“He is so skilled and he just looked like he was in midseason form after not playing in a real basketball game for a couple of months. Pretty incredible.”