Right from the time when the exhibition games started, no one had any doubts about Team USA’s chance of dominating every team on their way to gold. However, back-to-back close games against South Sudan and Germany ended up making people reconsider their take on Team USA. But then the status quo was restored after the game against Serbia because of Kevin Durant and his blockbuster shooting showdown.
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On UNDISPUTED, Ric Bucher praised the Suns’ superstar for his clutch performance after coming off the bench. Steve Kerr had to bring KD in because the start for Team USA wasn’t what they hoped for. However, once he stepped foot on the court, KD made scoring look easy. In fact, the FS1 analyst is even willing to bet on his instinct that KD will continue to dominate games in similar fashion. He said,
“I have no reason to believe that he won’t keep it up. Based on Kevin Durant’s track record, when it comes to international performance, he has shot well over 50%, shoots darn near 50% from the three-point range… He flipped that Serbia game… Team USA was losing until Kevin Durant came into that game and he shifted the momentum completely…”
It’s a no-brainer for Bucher to say that KD will continue to put up similar numbers in the upcoming games.
“Kevin Durant flipped that Serbia game upside down.”
@RicBucher highlights KD as most important player on Team USA pic.twitter.com/DvMuVzYkBD— The Facility (@TheFacilityFS1) July 31, 2024
KD is the most successful Olympic player on Team USA right now. Having won three gold medals, he has a sense of how the international games work, probably better than anybody else. He showed the same during the game against Serbia when he shot eight of eight from the field and five of five from the three-point line to drop 21 points in one half.
His performance was so impressive that Skip Bayless admitted he would choose KD over LeBron James in big games every time.
Skip Bayless heaped praise on Kevin Durant
Durant’s game-winning performance was supposed to earn him all the praise he could get. Which did happen but when it comes to Bayless, he has to slip in a jab for LeBron James every chance he gets. So, when KD dropped 23 points against Nikola Jokic and Co. Bayless took to X to state,
“In big games, I’ll take KD over LeBron every time… This has to be the greatest shooting first half in Olympic basketball history … by KEVIN DURANT.”
It comes as no surprise because the FS1 analyst has never really been the strongest LeBron supporter. Additionally, any fan of LeBron can’t expect a lot from Bayless, who believes that the four-time NBA Champion is nothing but a practice game bully.
