Even as he takes great pride in donning the country's jersey, Kevin Durant withdraws from Team USA. NBA.com releases his statement.
The Oklahoma City Thunder forward admitted that it is "an extremely difficult decision" to make. He said he owes it to his teammates in the USA basketball "to be totally invested in the experience." He came up with the realization after attending the training camp. "I could not fulfill my responsibilities to the team from both a time and energy standpoint. I need to take a step back and take some time away, both mentally and physically in order to prepare for the upcoming NBA season. I will be rooting for USAB and look forward to future opportunities with them."
Jerry Colangelo, USAB national team managing director, said that they fully support Kevin. "His wellbeing is the most important thing to us and we support him taking the time to get ready for next season."
Before Kevin Durant withdraws from Team USA, several other players made previous departures: Paul George, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Kawhi Leonard. The list is down to 15 but Colangelo is positive that no one else has plans of backing out. His recent talks to most of them made him confident of the remaining players.
Colangelo in a Yahoo Sports interview shared that he has no plans to add players even if Kevin Durant withdraws from Team USA but the decision will still depend on USA coach Mike Krzyzewski. The team will resume practice next week and finalize the lineup before the start of 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain on August 30.
The World Cup of basketball features 24 national teams. It will commence on August 30 and culminate on September 14. Team USA is at Group C and so are Finland, Dominican Republic, Ukraine, Turkey, and New Zealand.
