Kevin Durant misses Team USA training camp through injury: will he play at the 2024 Olympics?

The United States men’s basketball team has been dealt a potential blow ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris with Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant, a three-time gold medallist, missing the start of training camp in Las Vegas after picking up an injury.

What injury does Durant have? What has Steve Kerr said about it?

On Sunday, Shams Charania and Joe Vardon of The Athletic reported that Durant had been forced to sit out the first two days of training because of a calf strain. While not normally a serious injury, such issues can prove troublesome if they don’t heal properly, especially in basketball.

Team USA head coach Steve Kerr suggested as much when he spoke to the media after the news had made its way into the public domain. “We’re just going to use an abundance of caution. It’s not bad. He’s assuring me that it’s not bad. We’re just going to be really careful and take it day by day.”

On the face of it, Durant participation in the Olympics shouldn’t be under threat, although the 35-year-old’s condition is certainly one to keep an eye on.

Although the two-time NBA champion played 75 games for the Suns in the season just finished, he made only 47 appearances in the two previous campaigns combined because of injury issues.

When does men’s basketball at the 2024 Olympics start?

The US team will play five exhibition games before the Games get underway on Friday July 26, starting against Canada on Wednesday (July 10). The Suns power forward has neither been ruled in nor out of the game at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The men’s basketball tournament at the 2024 Olympics will begin on Saturday July 27, with the gold medal match taking place on Saturday August 10.

14-time NBA All-Star Durant has already won three Olympic gold medals with the US (2012, 2016 and 2020) and is the country’s all-time leading scorer in the men’s tournament at the Games.