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Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant will not be part of the American team in the upcoming FIBA World Cup. He pulled out citing physical and mental fatigue.
It certainly does not augur well for the team after Paul George was ruled out due to an injury and Kevin Love withdrew due to an uncertain future with the Timberwolves. Durant described his decision as an extremely tough one.
"This was an extremely difficult decision as I take great pride in representing our country," Durant said in a statement. "I know that I owe it to my USA Basketball teammates to be totally invested in the experience. After going through training camp with USAB, I realized I could not fulfill my responsibilities to the team from both a time and energy standpoint.
"I need to take a step back and take some time away, both mentally and physically in order to prepare for the upcoming NBA season. I will be rooting for USAB and look forward to future opportunities with them."
Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge and NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard had earlier withdrawn from the World Cup. Durant was part of the training camp in Las Vegas last week. The remaining 15 members will start their preparations on August 14 in Chicago.
Durant had reached out to Team USA managing director Jerry Colangelo and coach Mike Krzyzewski on Thursday afternoon expressing his inability to feature in the World Cup.
"He tried to give it a go at our recent Las Vegas training camp but felt coming out of camp that he was not prepared to fulfill the commitment he made to the team," Colangelo said in a statement. "Coach K and I fully support Kevin. His well being is the most important thing to us and we support him taking the time to get ready for next season.
"He's been part of the National Team program for eight years and a big part of the success we have achieved, and we look forward to him being part of our success in the future as well."
The FIBA World Cup is scheduled from August 30 – September 14 in Spain.
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