How Kevin Durant’s 2028 Olympics tease could change everything we thought about Team USA roster

Does anyone else still have Olympics fever? With the 2026 Winter Olympics coming to an end, meaning no more midday curling tournaments, all of our attention now turns to the 2028 Summer Olympics, which will be held in Los Angeles, California. After watching Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and Stephen Curry win the gold medal in France, could we see these three stars lead Team USA yet again?

This spectacle dominated headlines and the basketball world in 2024. There was nothing better than watching these three legends claim gold in France, and now, USA Basketball can do it on home soil in two years.

"THE GOLDEN DAGGER!"

Steph Curry that is utterly ridiculous. #ParisOlympics | NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/8hIN8tgmfK

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 10, 2024

However, once the 2024 Olympics concluded, it sounded like that would be the last time we would see LeBron, KD, and Steph all on the court playing together. James told reporters he would be “watching from Cabo,” and Curry said he “highly doubts it.”

After all, they are in the later stages of their respective careers, and it’s reasonable to believe that James won’t be in the NBA anymore by the time of the next Olympics.

It is never too early to begin looking at what the future of USA Basketball looks like, especially now that Durant is hinting at playing in Southern California in two years, in the immediate aftermath of all the winter events in Italy concluding.

Kevin Durant won’t shut door on 2028 Olympics

When the 2024 Olympics ended and Team USA, led by Durant, James, and Curry, took home the gold medals, everyone’s attention immediately turned to what the future of USA Basketball looked like.

Cooper Flagg, who had not yet been drafted, was a popular pick by many to be one of the next guys up to follow in the footsteps of those legends before him. Anthony Edwards and Devin Booker, two other key contributors from the 2024 Olympic squad, were also early picks to be the featured “captains” of the team.

Maybe it’s the Olympic love in the air from this year’s winter games, but it doesn’t seem as if there will be a major overhaul and changing of the guard for Team USA quite yet, especially with Durant making his stance on playing in Los Angeles clear to Vincent Goodwill of ESPN.

“You guys, the media, have projected that,” Durant told ESPN regarding the narrative of Paris being the legend’s last Olympic run. “That narrative, where did the last dance thing come from? I didn’t say I wasn’t playing. LeBron said he wasn’t. You didn’t hear that from me or Steph.”

As far as actually playing, Durant’s answer was simple.

“Hell yeah, I want to play,” Durant said. “Today, yeah I feel like I’ll put my name in that hat.”

Well, that settles that. Kevin Durant, who will be 39 and on the verge of turning 40 in the summer of 2028, wants to play for the stars and stripes in the 2028 Olympics. Assuming he is healthy and obviously doesn’t change his mind, Durant will be the captain of the team and take one of the 12 coveted roster spots to defend the gold medal in front of the American faithful.

Durant takes a lot of pride in American basketball, and he made his stance on USA vs. the World clear to ESPN.

“I just don’t like the talk around the USA versus European style of how you approach the game,” Durant explained. “‘France is coming for you.’ Really? We smacked them boys.”

Victor Wembanyama, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo have been the faces of rapid growth in basketball across the globe, but USA Basketball continues to dominate on the world’s biggest stage every four years. Once again, Team USA will enter the 2028 Olympics as the favorites to take home the gold medal, and Durant appears to be ready to make this dream come true yet again.

Whether Curry will be alongside him is still a major question mark.

Will Stephen Curry join Kevin Durant in 2028?

Before 2024, Steph Curry has basically experienced everything one possibly could in a Hall of Fame career.

He broke the league’s all-time 3-point record, won four NBA championships, led the league in scoring twice, won two MVP awards (one of which was the first unanimous selection), and was named to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary team. But the one empty space in Curry’s vast trophy cabinet was a gold medal from the Olympics.

Although he had played for Team USA in the World Cup, Steph made it a point of emphasis to actually play in the 2024 Olympics, and he was one of the leading voices with LeBron and Durant to get the best of the best on this roster.

“Personally, it’s the one thing I haven’t been able to experience: Being an Olympian,” Curry told Andscape before the 2024 Olympics. “Hopefully we will win gold. At this stage in my career, it’s give me an opportunity to just be so present in the moment and have fun playing basketball. It’s such a pure expression of the game.”

The United States did go on to win the gold medal as Curry had hoped for, and he was the main reason why the team defeated France in the Gold Medal Game. If it weren’t for Curry’s heroics and iconic shots from the perimeter, Team USA may not have won the gold medal.

“It was the most surreal feeling, especially the way it ended,” Curry told Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic after the 2024 Olympics. “I felt like a kid again. A 12-out-of-10 experience.”

If Curry had that much fun playing and winning gold in Paris, what would it be like playing in Los Angeles and doing so again next to Durant? Even though LeBron very likely wouldn’t be on the team, a roster spot is there for Steph if he wants it.

He would be 40 years old by the time the next Olympics roll around, which is why it’s way too early to speculate about whether Curry would actually consider playing in the 2028 summer games. After all, this would be a decision made that year based on Steph’s overall health and where he is in his career, especially since the finish line will be on the horizon.

Durant obviously wants to play, and his words suggest that he wants Steph there alongside him too. For the moment, we will assume both of these legends will wear USA across their chest at least one more time together, which leaves 10 spots open for the remaining pool of American players.

Predicting rest of 12-man Olympics roster

If we are to assume both Durant and Curry will lead Team USA in the 2028 Olympics, who else will be on this roster?

Edwards and Booker, as previously mentioned, will be locked into their spots as long as they are healthy. Both stars played integral roles next to Curry and Durant in Paris, and they would likely assume larger roles since they would be in the primes of their respective careers in 2028.

Flagg is another safe choice, as he will be finishing up his third NBA season and is even better than he already is. After practicing with Team USA in 2024, everyone with the program was already raving about him leading the Americans one day.

Another guard who will very likely receive one of the first calls to play in Los Angeles is Cade Cunningham. Not only has he established himself as one of the best players in the East with the Detroit Pistons, but Cunningham has turned himself into a legitimate MVP candidate. Between his playmaking and scoring abilities off the dribble, Cunningham is the perfect guard for Olympic play.

That leaves six more spots open, some of which need to be filled by frontcourt talents.

Bam Adebayo is a two-time Olympic gold medalist with Team USA, and he is highly regarded as one of the best defensive centers in the world. He will be 31 by the time the next Olympic Games roll around, and Adebayo will likely be the starting center for the Americans.

Even after adding Adebayo, USA Basketball will need even more height to combat Wembanyama and the other tall European players, which makes Chet Holmgren a viable option to make his Team USA debut since playing in the FUBA U-19 Championships.

Holmgren and Wembanyama have a very clear rivalry growing in the NBA, and the Oklahoma City Thunder big man is one of the best rim protectors in the world.

The last center spot should be going to none other than Jalen Duren right now. In just his fourth NBA season, Duren has ascended to becoming an All-Star big man with his toughness in the paint on both ends of the floor. Duren’s athleticism stands out when looking at international play, especially with his pick-and-roll connection with Cunningham.

Three spots remain, and with Erik Spoelstra taking over for Steve Kerr on the sidelines, he will want tough, two-way players on the wing. Enter Jaylen Brown, who has already declared himself the best two-way player in the world and has elevated his play to new heights since winning the 2024 Finals MVP.

Brown can score and defend like a top-10 player in the world, which is why he would be one of the key names on Team USA’s roster if the Olympics were starting right now.

In need of at least one more wing who can defend and score, Scottie Barnes stands out. Not only is Barnes viewed as one of the best all-around defenders in the league, but he operates as a “point forward” who can do a little bit of everything on the floor. With his quick instincts as a defender and ability to push the pace, Team USA would possess the youth and athleticism it needs to keep up with the rest of the world.

And finally, one spot remains, and it’s so hard to choose between all the remaining talent.

Tyrese Haliburton and Jayson Tatum were both on the 2024 Olympic team, but both players suffered major Achilles injuries in the 2025 playoffs. Jalen Johnson and Jalen Williams are two younger forwards on the rise, but are they ready to help lead the nation to a gold medal? Then there are All-Stars like Donovan Mitchell, Jalen Brunson, and Tyrese Maxey who will be vying for spots.

If the Olympics were today, I would give this final spot to Mitchell for two key reasons: dynamic scoring and perimeter shooting.

We saw how important having Curry and others hit big-time threes was in the 2024 Olympics, and Mitchell ranks sixth in the NBA with 667 made threes over the last three years. He is one of the best offensive players in the NBA off the dribble, and Mitchell’s unselfish play will be needed on this team.

So there it is, our early projection for Team USA in the 2028 Olympics:

• GUARDS: Stephen Curry, Devin Booker, Cade Cunningham, Donovan Mitchell
• WING: Kevin Durant, Anthony Edwards, Jaylen Brown, Scottie Barnes, Cooper Flagg
• BIGS: Bam Adebayo, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Duren

Of course, this is not the official Team USA roster, and we will likely see some major changes over the next two years before the summer games in Los Angeles. Who knows whether Curry will actually play, and health could clearly impact the status of any player vying for a USA Basketball roster spot.

Not to mention, this year’s 2026 NBA Draft class has a chance to be one of the most historic in league history. Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer, AJ Dybantsa, Caleb Wilson, and Kingston Flemings, among others, could easily leave their mark on the NBA like Flagg has and earn themselves a spot on the Olympic team.

After all, age matters in the Olympics, and the roster is usually made up of players in their mid-to-late 20s. Obviously, the 2024 Olympics was an outlier, as the new-age “Dream Team” assembled by James, Durant, and Curry had an average age of 30.1 years old.

The Team USA roster in 2028 will be significantly younger, faster, and more athletic. If Durant and Curry are to lead this team and look to defend their gold medals one last time, we should expect to see a group of 12 players that looks something like the hypothetical squad assembled above.

With the 2026 Winter Olympics ending, the countdown to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles has officially started.

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