Making his return to the court for the first time since April, Kevin Durant led Team USA to victory in its first official Olympic pool play game. The American team defeated Serbia, a team ranked fourth in the world by Nike’s FIBA World Rankings, 110-84 on Sunday. 

An hour before the game, the status of Durant’s health remained unclear. But, with less than an hour until the jump ball, Durant was cleared from a calf injury to make his fourth Olympic debut. Team USA was down 14-19 as Durant entered the game, but the national team’s all-time leading scorer made an immediate impact by hitting his first eight shots, five of which were three-pointers. 

“I’ve been playing ball my whole life, so I simplified it,” said Durant to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst after playing in his first game in over a month. “And when the ball touched my hand, it was be aggressive.”

While Durant led Team USA with 23 points, four-time NBA champion LeBron James led the team with nine assists. The star-studded veteran duo racked up a combined 44 points and were the only American players to reach the 20-point mark.

After two of the most decorated NBA players in history took the court together, James praised his fellow teammate. 

“KD was phenomenal. It’s almost like he never missed a beat, practice, or a game or anything,” James said, per Basket News. “He’s just out of this world talent. I think he even goes even harder in practice, and when the game starts, it’s just routine for him.”

Following an impressive first game of the 2024 Paris Olympics, Durant has been argued to be one of the greatest Olympic basketball players of all time. The 14-time NBA All-Star is on track to become the first American men’s basketball player to win four gold medals. Across 23 Olympic games, Durant averages 19.9 points and is Team USA’s all-time leading scorer with 458 points.

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