Written by Mark Stein at ESPN.com
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant remains intent on playing in this summer’s Olympics after his looming free agency, unmoved by the recent withdrawals of a few high-profile names.
Durant confirmed Monday at his KD 9 shoe release in Austin, Texas, that he planned to play for the United States in Rio de Janeiro this summer.
“I’m excited about it. I’m looking forward to it,” he said.
Several star players withdrew their names from consideration earlier this month, including Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Houston’s James Harden and Thunder teammate Russell Westbrook.
“We talk so much about workload now, we knew all these guys were going to. We talk so much about minutes being played and resting guys during the year and the workload and it’s too many games, I knew guys were going to think about that,” Durant said.
“It’s natural. It’s a part of it. You can respect it. But I want to play though. I just want to hoop.”
Sources say Indiana’s Paul Georgeand Golden State’s Klay Thompsonare also considered locks alongside Durant for the 12-man Olympic roster that will be revealed in the coming days, joining Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins, whose inclusion was first reported by The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears earlier this month.
A source also told Spears on Monday that Warriors forward Draymond Greenhas accepted an invitation to play for Team USA.
Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving, sources say, is regarded as a near certainty to claim a spot on the roster as long as he remains available.
USA Basketball, sources say, is still waiting to see whether New York Knicksstar Carmelo Anthony will make himself available for Olympic duty, while Cleveland’s LeBron James had said in recent days that he wouldn’t make a firm decision about Rio until after the NBA Finals.
USAB chairman Jerry Colangelo told ESPN in a recent interview that he and coach Mike Krzyzewski have been preparing one roster “with LeBron and one without LeBron.”
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