Kevin Durant firmly asserts that Team USA remains the dominant force in basketball, dismissing claims of international competition catching up: "I don't believe it's close. ... We set the standard for being great in basketball."
While some believe the gap between the NBA, Team USA, and the rest of the world is narrowing, Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant strongly disagrees.
"Hell nah. Of course not," Durant said on the Out of the Mud podcast when asked if the world would ever catch up to the USA in basketball.
The basketball world was buzzing during the 2024 Paris Olympics semifinals when Serbia led Team USA by as many as 17 points. However, LeBron James and Stephen Curry stepped up to secure a 95-91 win for the Americans.
"We beat Serbia three times this summer," KD said. "One game? Yeah, they're going to get one game when they look solid. France beat us one time, but we beat them for the gold medal [in the Tokyo Olympics]. Last Olympics, too. We beat them twice for the gold."
Team USA has claimed five consecutive Olympic gold medals, but the FIBA World Cup has been a different story. Without their superstars, the Americans finished seventh in 2019 and fourth in 2023.
"We created basketball," Durant underlined. "They were influenced by us. Luka [Doncic] was influenced by Americans. So is [Nikola] Jokic. So was Toni Kukoc. So was Manu Ginobili. Tony Parker. All these dudes were influenced by Americans. We set the blueprint.
"It's cute for sure for people who want to experience history," Durant went on to say. "I was there to see the changing of the guard between Americans and Europeans. People want to try to switch the narrative and hype some shit up when the reality is that we've been dominating these dudes the whole time. And they finally got close to 20 points, and now you're saying they are catching up. Nah, it doesn't make sense.
"The best players come from the places we come from. We set the standard for being great in basketball."
Looking ahead, Durant will be 39 at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. LeBron and Steph are aging as well.
Some doubt Team USA's ability to maintain dominance without them, but Durant isn't concerned.
"There's going to be some players like Victor [Wembanyama], Jokic, and Giannis [Antetokounmpo]," Durant noted. "I don't want to put Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] in there because Canada is next door. If you want to look at three players and say that they caught up to the rest of the Americans, you can't just use three players to make that claim to say that they start to catch up now.
"Or because of one tight game against Serbia. I don't believe it's close. For people to give them credit just for being in a close game with us shows that they can't even compete."
