Kevin Durant, James Harden commit to playing in Olympics
The Nets’ stars didn’t win a championship for Brooklyn, but they’re going to try to win one for America.
Both Kevin Durant and James Harden have committed to Team USA’s men’s national basketball team for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. It is unclear whether Kyrie Irving intends to play after a severe ankle sprain in Game 4 against the Milwaukee Bucks left him in a walking boot. The Tokyo Olympics begin July 23 and end on Aug. 8.
Reports surfaced of Durant’s expected commitment to Team USA Monday morning before Nets general manager Sean Marks spoke to reporters alongside head coach Steve Nash in their end-of-the-season press conference. Marks said the Team USA commitment would be “a collective decision” with the players, coaching staff and performance team. Minutes later, The Athletic reported Harden’s commitment to the national team.
“It’s very difficult to turn down playing for your country, and having the opportunity to go out there and have a heck of a summer and win an Olympic gold medal is their objective,” Marks said Monday afternoon. “For them to have to turn that down, they’ve got to look at the big picture and say, ‘Am I not healthy?’”
Durant reclaimed his status as arguably the best player in basketball in the playoffs, averaging 35 points, 10.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game in Brooklyn’s second-round series against the Bucks. Harden reclaimed his status as an MVP candidate after his trade to Brooklyn but watched a hamstring strain derail his season, and the team’s.
His Grade 2 right hamstring strain is the reason there’s concern regarding his decision to play just five weeks after the end of the Nets’ season, but five weeks should be more than enough time given he played in Games 5, 6 and 7 against the Bucks with a limited, but improving range of motion.
“He’s gonna have to work these next three-four weeks and hopefully get back and be healthy again, but admirable, and it’s a risk that was well-versed and well-talked about between (the performance team), coaching and James,” Marks said of Harden playing through injury. “And it’s tough to say no to a player of that caliber and say, ‘Hey look, you best need to sit out’ or ‘Steve has to limit minutes.’ So it’s very difficult. You’ve got to trust the player a lot when it comes to that, and it just shows what he’s made of.”
There’s also concern overloading Durant in just his first season back from an Achilles injury. There can’t be that much concern, however, since he played every minute of Game 5 and 7 — the latter of which went to overtime — and scored 48 and 49 points, respectively.
“As long as several markers have been met, and that starts with us having a conversation with Kevin, what it looks like,” Marks said. “But I think Kevin, as I said before, it’s very difficult to turn down playing for your country. Having that opportunity is like none other. And I think Kevin knows this. Kevin knows that if his body feels right and if he’s up for the task, what a great opportunity to go play alongside a lot of his close friends and go and have a very, very unique experience.”
The Team USA preliminary pool also includes Irving, Joe Harris, DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin. Nets reserve guard Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot will play for France, and soon-to-be free agent point guard Spencer Dinwiddie will play for Nigeria.
Other Team USA commits include Portland’s Damian Lillard, Phoenix’s Devin Booker, Boston’s Jayson Tatum, Washington’s Bradley Beal, Miami’s Bam Adebayo and Golden State’s Draymond Green.
“I think our guys have been through this enough to realize what’s best for them, what’s best for their body, and what their ultimate goal is,” Marks said.
‘UP TO US’
Marks said “it’s probably too early” to start discussing Durant, Harden and Irving’s futures in Brooklyn. Each of the Nets’ Big 3 have two years remaining on their four-year max contracts, but each can decline the player option on Year 4 and hit unrestricted free agency next summer.
“Obviously we’re committed to them,” Marks said. “They play a big role in how we’re going to continue to build this, how we’re gonna drive our culture and the identity of our team. When they were healthy that’s a very, very elite unit. I don’t see any shortage of people wanting to play with them, people wanting to play alongside them or them wanting to be a part of something here.
“Now it’s gonna be up to us to continue to make Brooklyn an environment where not only do they want to re-sign, but our free agents want to return to us and future people think, ‘hey there’s a heck of an opportunity for me there in Brooklyn to play alongside those high-caliber players.’”
NO SWIFT JUDGEMENT
Marks said the Nets do not plan any rash changes to their performance staff in light of the significant injuries to Irving (ankle), Harden (hamstring), Durant (hamstring/thigh) and Dinwiddie (ACL). Many teams suffered injuries to star players, including the Lakers, who were eliminated by the Suns in the first round largely due to injuries to both LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
“I think you have to be very careful in the circumstances we dealt with this year,” the GM said. “No team has ever been through this before. You hope that next season looks vastly different from the protocols that were in place from COVID. I don’t want to be too quick to judge anybody. There’s no rash decisions. We’ve never made rash decisions in five years since we’ve been here.
“The objective here is to go into next season with the right habits, having worked this offseason. Obviously, take some time away, but go in with a different mindset of how are we going to attack 82 games. Hopefully, it’s 82 games and a regular-season format, not a condensed version, a proper training camp and so forth and many of those decisions.”
