Kevin Durant's injury status clear to see as Team USA star makes gesture at practice

Kevin Durant has provided a convincing injury update ahead of Team USA's participation at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

The 35-year-old Phoenix Suns ace, a two-time NBA champion, two-time Finals MVP, one-time league MVP, and 14-time All-Star, was first out to practice on Friday in London - his first session since suffering an injury in mid-June.

Durant 's participation at the Summer Olympics was thrown into doubt last month, with the three-time gold medalist even being left concerned. "You always had those concerns, but I see progress every day," admitted Durant to reporters at practice.

"It's one of those things you just got to monitor every day and I see how I feel after I do certain movements and certain exercises. But my thing is just keep working and see what happens."

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Durant was joined out on court early on by Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards. The pair will now team up following a sensational rivalry during the Suns-Timberwolves playoff series, where Edwards got the better of his hero, and made sure to let him know.

Team USA will play South Sudan in London's O2 Arena on Saturday, followed by world champions Germany on Monday. Head coach Steve Kerr has assembled arguably the best Olympic roster of all time. It rivals the 1992 team that combined Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Charles Barkley at the least.

Kerr is hopeful that Durant will feature in Team USA's London Olympic warmup games, with Team USA's first outing in Paris against World Cup finalists Serbia. "I would love for him to play in a game, but we have to take it day by day," Kerr said. "We'll see where he is tomorrow."

Durant will also team up with LeBron James and his former Golden State Warriors teammate, Steph Curry. The latter, despite being a bonafide future NBA Hall of Famer, will compete in his first Olympics. Others such as Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum find themselves on the stacked 12-man roster.

Edwards, in particular, has impressed both Durant and James. "Ant is going to be confident, no matter if he's in America or he's overseas," James said. "That's just his motto, his bravado."

The 22-year-old oozes confidence. Edwards will be one of the US' young stars expected to lead and carry the torch once passed on by James and Co. An Olympic gold medal could be a good starting base for Edwards, who at one point this year, looked like dragging Minnesota to an NBA Championship, only to fall in the Western Conference finals to the Dallas Mavericks.