Team USA has relocated halfway across the world but is still in a holding pattern with star Kevin Durant, who missed practice again Saturday with a calf strain and likely won’t play when the Americans face Australia in a friendly set for Monday.
Coach Steve Kerr has been publicly downplaying any concern about the injury but pushed back his timeline before leading the team through practice.
“I know there’s still a couple of weeks before we have to make a decision roster-wise,” Kerr said. “So we’re just taking it day by day.”
For weeks, Team USA had a contingency plan in place if Kawhi Leonard wasn’t able to play in the Olympics as he recovered from a knee injury, lining up Derrick White as the probable replacement in early June. The Americans made that move Wednesday, releasing Leonard and putting White on the roster as they broke training camp in Las Vegas.
If the team has a backup plan for Durant, it is keeping it under wraps.
“It’s not something we’ve even discussed at this point because we feel good that [Durant] is going to be OK,” Kerr said.
Durant said earlier this week he was hopeful to have recovered enough from the calf injury he suffered two weeks ago to play during the warmup games in the Middle East. It includes a game Wednesday against Serbia, the team the U.S. will open Olympic play against in France later this month.
White was scheduled to fly to Abu Dhabi on Saturday and is expected to practice for the first time Sunday.
