Kevin Durant is out for the entirety of this season, but there's a big event this summer that he might be healthy for.
Durant hasn't been able to play for the Nets since joining in the summer. Instead, the superstar has spent his season recovering from a ruptured Achilles that he suffered in Game 5 of last June's NBA Finals.
But if Durant heals in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, could he decide to suit up and play for USA Basketball? Evan Roberts and Joe Benigno are not fans of that idea, to say the least.
"I love America, and I love competing for our country, and I respect and appreciate that Kevin Durant wants to do that," Roberts said Monday on WFAN. "But the idea that Kevin Durant might play in the Olympics, before he ever plays a game for the Brooklyn Nets, gives me a stomach ache."
This speculation about the summer has come about after Rich Kleiman, Durant's business partner, told the Washington Post that playing in Tokyo is "definitely a possibility" for the on-the-mend forward.
Durant was a part of the American teams that won gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics and at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Gregg Popovich will coach this year's squad, who will be heavily favored to win the competition again.
Benigno thinks the Nets shouldn't allow Durant to play this summer.
"If I'm the Nets, I would tell Durant 'look, you're not playing in the Olympics,'" added Benigno.
The Olympics are scheduled to begin on July 24. Durant would have to be healthy enough to take part in a training camp earlier that month. All reports indicate that Durant's recovery is going well, so playing in the games might not require him rushing back too soon, even if it is a long shot.
Durant hasn't played at all, and now Kyrie Irving is also done for the year for the Nets due to a shoulder injury. Benigno also doesn't think Irving should be on that USA Basketball team this summer.
"I don't want him (Irving) playing either! I don't want either of them playing. And I don't think it's crazy to say, when you paid $70 million to two guys who haven't played this year, that you don't want them playing in the Olympics."
All this worrying could be for naught, as there is still the possibility that the Tokyo Olympics have to be cancelled due to the global outbreak of coronavirus.
Click on the audio player above to listen to the full segment from the 'Joe & Evan' show.
