US star's record-setting Olympic career might not be over

Kevin Durant won his fourth straight gold medal on Saturday in Paris. An ESPN insider thinks he might try for a fifth in 2028.

On Monday's episode of "Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective," Windhorst revealed that he didn't think the 35-year-old Durant was necessarily done with Olympic basketball. Though the "Slim Reaper" would be two months away from his 40th birthday by the time of the gold medal game in 2028, neither Durant nor USA Basketball have ruled out his playing.

"I would not rule out KD playing," Windhorst opined near the end of the podcast. "I talked with Team USA officials, and they would give him a provisional yes right now."

The "provisional yes" likely refers to Durant's recent injury history. He's had a series of leg injuries since tearing his Achilles tendon during the 2019 NBA Finals, and a calf injury kept him out for all of Team USA's warmup games. But he did play 75 games during the NBA season, and his contract with the Phoenix Suns runs through the 2025-26 season.

Durant is the all-time leading scorer in U.S. Olympic history. He averaged 13.8 points in Team USA's six Olympic Games this summer, shooting 51.9% from three-point range. While Durant may be getting older, he'll still be nearly 7-foot tall and likely still able to rain threes.

Is Durant interested in playing? After Saturday's win, he told reporters, "As for L.A., who knows? We'll see." A lot can change in four years, but as of now, Durant could still be in the mix for a fifth gold medal in basketball, something only ever achieved by Diana Taurasi (six) and Sue Bird (five).

As for teammate LeBron James, he told reporters that he "can't see myself playing in Los Angeles," but added that he didn't imagine playing in Paris until a year ago either. So Team USA will have to rely on the next generation of American players in four years — but you still can't rule out the last generation just yet.