Kevin Durant is considered one of the most successful players in the history of Team USA. Durant has been part of Team USA for their past 3 Olympics gold medal wins.
Durant takes a lot of pride in playing for Team USA and has been a pivotal part of their success over the last 14 years. But with the rise in superstars from Europe in the NBA during this time, some have questioned the ability of the American system to develop players in kind.
One NBA fan questioned whether the European system is better at preparing young players to play elite basketball. With the rise of players like Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Nikola Jokic, all of whom played their early basketball in Europe, some have questioned whether this is the case.
But Kevin Durant doesn’t seem to agree with this statement. He responded to the fan on Twitter, stating that much of Giannis’ game has developed since he came to the NBA and that he fine-tuned his skills in the league.
In response to another fan agreeing with the initial statement, Durant added that the United States has some of the best basketball trainers in the entire world.
Didn’t Giannis fine tune his game more in America than he did overseas?? https://t.co/AT0vgpBMeq
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) May 18, 2022
There’s nothing there, we have some of the best basketball trainers in the world in America https://t.co/OOslCAHka6
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) May 18, 2022
Fan: I’m sure this won’t go well with some people but the US model of basketball is broken in regards to youth skill development and focus on rankings. Possible 3 best players in world (Giannis, Jokic and Luka) probably could have cared less about rankings or even known there were
Kevin Durant: Didn’t Giannis fine tune his game more in America than he did overseas??… There’s nothing there, we have some of the best basketball trainers in the world in America
Durant does make a good point. Players like Giannis and Jokic, both of whom were regarded as high-potential players, needed to improve by playing basketball in the NBA to get to the level that they are at today.
Luka Doncic was considered a generational talent even before he entered the NBA. He was a youth sensation, once scoring 54 points at 12 years of age to win MVP at a youth tournament. But even he has been able to improve his game significantly since reaching the NBA.
