Getty Kevin Durant and LeBron James defend Stephen Curry during the final seconds of the fourth quarter during the 2018 NBA All-Star Game at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on February 18, 2018.
This year’s iteration of Team USA is far from the all-time great assemblage of players on the 1992 United States men’s Olympics team, a squad led by Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. The 2021 Americans aren’t too shabby, though.
Nets star Kevin Durant leads a group that includes Jayson Tatum, Damian Lillard and Devin Booker. COVID-19 protocols have thrown Team USA’s preparation into disarray, with their Friday exhibition against Australia canceled because of it. But the team is still set to debut at the Tokyo Olympics on July 25, when they begin by facing France.
Ahead of playing with a roster that is overflowing with All-Stars, Durant was asked what his current dream team would look like — and he didn’t disappoint.
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Durant Gives His Fantasy Starting Lineup
Durant, alongside Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki and Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, is featured on the cover of NBA 2K ‘22, it was announced earlier this week.
As he helped promote the video game, Durant was asked a question that always yields a headline-grabbing answer: If he was to form a team in the game, which active NBA players are in Durant’s starting lineup?
“I always get in trouble when I get asked these type of questions because I’m going to forget somebody,” Durant said in an interview posted to Twitter by @boardroom. “There’s so many great players.”
Durant was always going to pick his teammates here. They’re in the midst of a championship window in Brooklyn, and K.D. is smart enough not to do anything to fracture their budding chemistry. So it was no surprise to see him pick James Harden and Kyrie Irving, who, despite Durant’s bias, are certainly worthy selections with 16 All-Star Game selections between the two of them.
From there, though, is where it got interesting.
“Off the top, if I had to go five, I would go Kyrie, James, myself,” Durant started before hesitating for a moment, “LeBron and Anthony Davis.”
So Durant’s current dream team consists of all Nets and Lakers. It’s hard to argue with his picks, though his biggest snub was Steph Curry, his former Warriors teammate with whom he won back-to-back championships in 2017 and 2018. Durant did say he was going to forget somebody.
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Who Does Durant Play With on 2K?
Durant, an 11-time All-Star who this past season averaged 26.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists, is an avid NBA 2K player himself. That begs the question: Who does one of the game’s best use when he’s playing the game?
“I play with Kyrie, James all the time,” Durant said with a smile. “I play with — I’ve got a lot of friends in the league that we jump online and play with. And it’s fun when you playing online because everybody knows me because I have an NBA logo over my head. So I get the best games and, like I said, I meet new people along the way too.”
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