Kevin Durant: ''I want 40-50 point wins.'' Can USA do that in 2024?
PHOENIX (USA) - USA national team great Kevin Durant doesn't just want to win a fourth Olympic gold medal this summer in France. He wants the American team to steamroll every opponent en route to glory.
PHOENIX (USA) - USA national team great Kevin Durant doesn't just want to win a fourth Olympic gold medal this summer in France.
He wants to do it in ruthless fashion.
"I want to really make a statement on how dominant our players are," he said in an interview with Boardroom Cover Story. "Like 40, 50-point wins. I want to do that."
USA on the Global stage
| Competition | Final Standing | W-L | Wins by <10 points |
Wins by 10-19 points |
Wins by 20-29 points |
Wins by 30-39 points |
Wins by >=40 points |
Average Margin of Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 | 4th | 5-3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | +16.9 |
| Men’s Olympic Basketball Tournament Tokyo 2020 | 1st | 5-1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +20.0 |
| FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 | 7th | 6-2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +13.1 |
| Men’s Olympic Basketball Tournament Rio 2016 | 1st | 8-0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | +23.8 |
| FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014 | 1st | 9-0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | +33.0 |
| Men’s Olympic Basketball Tournament London 2012 | 1st | 8-0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | +32.1 |
| FIBA Basketball World Cup 2010 | 1st | 9-0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | +25.5 |
| Men’s Olympic Basketball Tournament Beijing 2008 | 1st | 8-0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | +28.0 |
| FIBA Basketball World Cup 2006 | 3rd | 8-1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | +20.4 |
| Men’s Olympic Basketball Tournament Athens 2004 | 3rd | 5-3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +4.6 |
Durant has been on an Olympic tear. Following his MVP performance at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2010 in Istanbul, he's stormed to gold at the last three Olympic Games.
Durant was the MVP of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2010 in Istanbul
In his first Summer Games in 2012 in London, the USA were awesome, although they only defeated Spain 107-100.
In Rio de Janeiro four years later, Durant claimed his second Olympic gold after the USA edged Spain again, 82-76, in the Semi-Finals before hammering Serbia, 96-66, in the Final.
“I WANT TO REALLY MAKE A STATEMENT ON HOW DOMINANT OUR PLAYERS ARE."
In 2021 in Tokyo, he got his third gold medal after arguably his toughest Olympic campaign.
USA fell to France in their opening game, 83-76, but found their groove and got revenge against Les Bleus in a thrilling Gold Medal Game. The Americans won, 87-82.
Setting out to be dominant and being dominant are two different things.
The last two FIBA Basketball World Cups, and the USA's struggles against France in Tokyo, indicate the competition is now much better all around the globe.
At last year's World Cup in Manila, Germany scraped a 113-111 win over a very talented USA in the Semi-Finals before beating Serbia to reach the top of the podium.
Durant would look forward to "ones" in practice with USA's 2023 World Cup star Anthony Edwards
USA followed their narrow defeat to Germany with another to Canada, 127-118 after overtime, in the Third-Place Game.
Those four squads should be very competitive in Paris 2024, and many other teams, like France playing at home most likely with NBA sensation Victor Wembanyama, will have the means to beat anybody on a good day. The level of basketball national teams keeps improving every year on all continents.
In 2023, the American team was short on international basketball experience. This summer's USA team, however, should have numerous players that have won World Cups and Olympic gold medals. A 41-man player pool has been announced yet the team won't be known for some time.
Durant, who is on USA Basketball's board of directors, will be there, he says. He wants to have a central role in reasserting the country's dominance and not just be a player collecting another gold.
Durant won his first Olympic gold medal at the 2012 Summer Games in London
"I'm trying to play real minutes," he said. "I'm trying to be responsible and have a real role and I know that's going to come from the work I put in practice and all of that stuff, but I'm ready for that and I'm excited about being around that bond and USA brotherhood again,” Durant said. "It's unmatched."
Durant is looking forward not just to the Games.
When asked by his agent in the Boardroom Cover Story, Rich Kleiman, who he wants to go at in one-on-one games in practice, Durant answered: "Ones (one-on-one) in practice, after practice, is the best. It's only going to get you better. So obviously Bron (LeBron James) going to want to play, Kawhi (Leonard) be there), Steph (Curry), PG (Paul George), young dudes like (Anthony) Edwards..."
Durant added: "... just being around these dudes and seeing how they work every day. Seeing what their routine is before a game. Seeing what they’re drinking and eating and how they’re stretching. I look at all that little stuff because I'm just so interested in seeing how you work.”
It will be an unforgettable summer.
“When you got All-Stars in the NBA playing on one team for not just a weekend, but for a whole summer,” Durant said, "the most fun part of the year is the summertime and you're traveling around the world basically on tour with some of the best athletes ever."
FIBA