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Brian Windhorst, ESPN Senior Writer
LONDON — Kevin Durant practiced with the U.S. national team for the first time on Friday since recovering from a right calf injury, and coach Steve Kerr is hopeful he’ll be available for one of the team’s final two warm-up games before the Paris Olympics.
Durant remains in doubt for Saturday night’s game against South Sudan at The O2 Arena as team officials want to monitor his recovery, but it signals important progress toward the return of the U.S.’ all-time leading Olympic scorer after missing all of the past two weeks of action.
“I want him to play, but we’ve got to take it one day at a time,” Kerr said. “We’ll see how he is tomorrow.”
Durant was injured during a workout in mid-June, and while the team was off its timeline, he admitted he worried it would last longer than Durant had hoped and that his recovery would affect the Olympics.
“Those were always concerns, but every day I see improvement,” said Durant, who has averaged 19.8 points per game over the past three Olympics.
“It’s one of those things where you monitor it every day and see how you feel after doing certain movements or certain exercises, but the way I do it is just keep training and see what happens.”
Durant said his previous injury to his left calf, which occurred shortly before he ruptured his Achilles tendon in the same leg in the 2019 NBA Finals, is not factored into his recovery from this latest injury.
It was the first time Durant and LeBron James had visited London with the U.S. team since the 2012 Olympics, when they were key members of the gold medal-winning squad.
But James is spending his evenings watching summer league games on this trip. His son, Bronny James, has been performing well for the Los Angeles Lakers this week. He had 12 points and a crucial 3-pointer against the Atlanta Hawks and finished with 13 points, five rebounds and three assists in a comeback win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday.
“He’s only 19 years old, so he still has a lot of room to grow and a lot to learn,” LeBron said, “but the best thing is he just keeps his head down and focused. The hard work is going to pay off. As a family, we’re obviously proud of how far he’s come.”
