Kevin Durant was the FIBA World Cup MVP in 2010. An encore 13 years later would be great for a basketball-crazy nation.
Boom Gonzalez of One Sports had the pleasure of going to Salt Lake City, Utah to cover this year’s 2023 NBA All-Star Weekend. If that wasn’t good enough, he was able to secure a one-on-one interview with basketball superstar and NBA 75th anniversary team member Kevin Durant.
Now playing for the Phoenix Suns, the 34-year-old scoring specialist graciously answered every question thrown at him, including a very important one, regarding a possible return to Manila.
As we all know, Team USA has been selected by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas to be the top international squad who’ll play in the country for the group stages of the 2023 FIBA World Cup in August. And of course, asking KD if he’s coming over just had to be done. His response should give his Filipino fans some glimmer of hope.
“It’s on my mind. I thought about it. But I don’t know for sure right now. I definitely want to get through this [NBA] season. I love my Team USA family. And as much as I can try to go out there and play, I will. But it’s got to work out for me as well out there in the league… But it’s something I think about for sure.”
In 2010, when the FIBA Basketball World Cup was held in Turkey, Durant was clearly the man for Team USA as he averaged 22.8 points and 6.1 rebounds on their way to a gold medal finish. In the finals, he went supernova from deep, hitting seven three-pointers en route to a 28-point outing against the hosts. He won MVP honors for his efforts.
To see him do something like that again in the Philippines would be quite an experience.