LAS VEGAS — Team USA star Kevin Durant missed the first two days of training camp with a calf strain, league sources told The Athletic on Sunday.
Durant has done light individual work on the side, but has not participated in full team drills and scrimmages — including the scrimmage against the Select Team won by Team USA, 45-39.
Durant, who is the Americans’ all-time leading scorer, came to camp with soreness in his calf, coach Steve Kerr said, but the injury is not believed to be serious. His status for the team’s first exhibition game Wednesday against Canada is in question, the sources said.
“We’re just going to use an abundance of caution,” Kerr said. “It’s not bad. He’s assuring me that it’s not bad. We’re just going to be really careful and take it day by day.”
Team USA’s first Olympic game is not until July 28 against Serbia in Lille, France. Once a final roster is submitted to Olympic governors later this month, no player on the roster can be replaced. But there is no concern right now Durant, or anyone else, would need to be replaced.
The Americans are also being cautious with Joel Embiid (knee) and Kawhi Leonard (knee), but both have participated in practice. Leonard drained four 3-pointers during the scrimmage and is “ramping up” from the extended period of inflammation he dealt with that knocked him out of the first round.
Meanwhile, Jayson Tatum missed his second consecutive day of camp for personal reasons. The absence is excused, Kerr said, and Tatum will join the team in Las Vegas.
In the portion of the scrimmage the media viewed Sunday, Kerr used separate lineups of LeBron James, Tyrese Haliburton, Anthony Davis, Bam Adebayo and Anthony Edwards; and then Steph Curry, Embiid, Leonard, Devin Booker and Jrue Holiday.
“They mentioned some guys might not play some games., or might not play many minutes,” said Edwards, USA’s leading scorer at the World Cup last summer. “I don’t mind. Like I said, I’m playing along side hall of famers. So I’m just here. But if they need me, I’ll be one call away.”
Cooper Flagg, the incoming freshman at Duke and an early favorite to be the No. 1 pick of the 2025 NBA Draft, participated for the Select Team and got behind the USA defense for a dunk in the closing seconds of the scrimmage.
“We were rusty,” Kerr said. “Day 2, guys are just really getting in game condition. We gave up a lot of offensive rebounds. … But all in all it’s been a really good first two days, just getting our feet under us, getting to know each other, and finding groups that work.”
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(Photo: Brian Babineau / NBAE via Getty Images)
