Kevin Durant arrives in Las Vegas as Team USA begins training camp
The lone representative for the Brooklyn Nets on the United States Olympic men’s basketball team has touched down in Las Vegas for training camp.
Kevin Durant is the headliner for Team USA with James Harden still recovering from the hamstring injury that hampered him in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Jayson Tatum, Bradley Beal, Bam Adebayo, Damian Lillard, Zach LaVine and Jerami Grant also have arrived for camp. The squad will begin preparing for the Olympics on Tuesday. Its first matchup in the Olympics will be against France on July 25.
Team USA will be shorthanded until Khris Middleton and Devin Booker join the team. The two are set to play in the NBA Finals, with that series opener scheduled for Tuesday night in Phoenix.
In the next 12 days, Team USA will host exhibition games against Nigeria, Australia (twice), Argentina and Spain. (See schedule below. All five games will be televised on NBC Sports Network.)
This means we may get a peek at how the Americans and potential Olympic opponents might do business in Tokyo. For example, we may get our first look at the preferred starting lineup for France.
We also will get to see the fitness level of players such as Jerami Grant, Zach LaVine, Draymond Green and Kevin Love. Those are the four players on the Olympic roster who haven’t participated in the NBA playoffs.
Team USA men’s basketball Olympic exhibition schedule
Date | Opponent | Time (EDT) |
July 10 | Nigeria | 8 p.m. |
July 12 | Australia | 8 p.m. |
July 13 | Argentina | 6 p.m. |
July 16 | Australia | 6 p.m. |
July 18 | Spain | 9 p.m. |
