Kevin Durant wants y’all to know he left Team USA this past summer for the reason y’all already think he left Team USA this past summer.
Paul George’s injury spooked him.
During an hour-long HBO Sports documentary entitled “The Offseason: Kevin Durant,” the now-injured Oklahoma City Thunder superstar basically admits that he left Team USA’s FIBA World Cup team because of George’s catastrophic injury.
Here’s the low down from said documentary, which airs Tuesday night, courtesy of The Washington Post‘s Michael Lee:
While heading to a gym in Oklahoma City to host his annual basketball camp, Kevin Durant sent a text message to Team USA Coach Mike Krzyzewski to let him know that he needed to talk about something important. Durant had made up his mind that he was drained and could no longer dedicate his summer to training and playing for USA Basketball.
His family, friends and representatives all understood and supported Durant but the hard part was going to be backing out and disappointing the people – like Krzyzewski – who expected him to play a leadership role in the pursuit of another international gold medal. A few days before he reached out to Krzyzewski, Durant watched Indiana Pacers forward Paul George break his right leg in a horrific collision with a basket stanchion during a Team USA basketball scrimmage in Las Vegas that convinced the reigning NBA MVP to withdraw from the FIBA World Cup.
“It took everything out of me seeing that,” Durant later told friend Randy Williams and a Nike executive at his camp of George. “Everything I had to play for Team USA, that injury stripped it away from me.”
There ya go. It’s just as most of us suspected, though you still have to wonder if his impending Nike deal factored in as well. Durant watched George hit the ground, writhing in pain, his leg broken, his 2014-15 season dashed, his career trajectory potentially rattled forever. And for what? A scrimmage? A tournament that has no bearing on his paycheck or team? The sight was enough to make any player second guess their involvement with Team USA. Each is essentially putting his own career on the line for flag and country, which, while admirable and good for branding, doesn’t pay well—as in at all.
Looking back, it’s probably a godsend that Durant left. Imagine if his Jones fracture had occurred while with Team USA. Think of the repercussions. He would have been able to return to the floor sooner, but simply having to acknowledge he injured himself during an exhibition tournament right after George did the same would have torched the incredibly flammable perception of USA basketball.
Other stars might have walked away. Assembling a team for the 2016 Olympics and everything after would have been a challenge. The process by which Team USA operates would have changed forever, perhaps to a point that exceeded caution and awareness and toed the line of paranoid.
Good on Durant for leaving, then. Not just because the circumstances of his current injury are more acceptable, but because he logged 15,064 minutes and missed only six games between 2009-10 and 2013-14. He earned some rest.
And his honesty, however delayed, deserves some brownie points.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
