Notes from USA Basketball training camp: Durant sidelined with sore calf

2024 USAB Men’s Portraits

LAS VEGAS — Two of Team USA’s biggest stars, Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum, have not been practicing with the team the first couple of days, although for very different reasons.

Tatum had an excused absence for personal reasons, coach Steve Kerr said, adding that the defending NBA champion would join the team and be ready to go later in the week.

Durant has not been going through drills due to a calf soreness, something Kerr confirmed.

“He’s got calf soreness, [he’s] day to day,” Kerr said. “We’re just going to show an abundance of caution…

“I think he tweaked it a few days before we got here. And you know, it’s it’s not bad, he says. He keeps assuring me that it’s not bad but we’re gonna we’re just gonna be really careful and smart and take it day by day.”

Durant is walking around at practice without any limp, nor is he wearing a leg wrap or support, which suggests this may be minor. However, considering Durant’s history with a torn Achilles, caution is the right move.

Here are some other notes from the first couple of days of camp, including the 15 minutes of scrimmage in front of the media between the senior team and the select team.

• The quote of camp so far goes to Anthony Edwards, when asked who on this stacked team would be the No. 1 option.

“I’m still number the No. 1 option,” Edwards said with a huge grin. “I mean, y’all might look at it differently. I don’t look no different… Yeah, I just go out there and be myself. Shoot my shot, play defense and they got to fit in and play around me that’s how it is.”

That’s Edwards at his best —confidence bordering on arrogance but with a wink. He also talked about fitting into a role, a common theme in the words from all the veteran players on this team. Edwards is arguably the most athletic and entertaining player on roster, but is he the guy Kerr turns to in the clutch?

“When a game is on the line who’s going to be the alpha?” Edwards repeated a question. “I think Kevin Durant. He better be, that’s what I came to see.”

• Maybe the most striking thing out of the scrimmage was just how vital Joel Embiid is to this roster. It was…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/notes-usa-basketball-training-camp-001012550.html

Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2024-07-08 00:10:12

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