Sam Amick

USA TODAY Sports

RIO DE JANEIRO – Kevin Durant had to ponder the question.

Had he ever felt chills during an NBA game, the kind that made him feel the way he did in Wednesday’s Team USA win over Argentina when the player-inspired chants of “U-S-A” came pouring down?

“I had some chills when we went to the Finals in 2012 (with the Oklahoma City Thunder); a tear rolled down my eyes in that moment,” Durant, who signed with the Golden State Warriors last month, said after practice on Thursday. “But you can’t really put into words (what it feels like when) you’re so united like that.

“You look in the stands, and you see everybody that has an American flag on, or red, white and blue. And it’s not about the Warriors or the Raptors or the Clippers or the Knicks, it’s all about Team USA.”

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All during the Olympics, a debate has circulated about the true meaning of a gold medal to the modern day NBA player. New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony said his two Olympic golds were enough to complete his career, that he could retire content even if he never wins an NBA title. The Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan took an even stronger stance, saying he believed an Olympic gold was more valuable than an NBA ring that he still hopes to win.

But beyond the water cooler component of that discussion, it’s more a question of patriotism than anything. How do current players truly feel about this challenge that the rest of the world takes so seriously, and how should we view what they do at the Olympics in the scope of a player’s legacy? For the purposes of these Games, where the undefeated Americans have a semifinal showdown against Spain (4-2) on Friday, it matters because, well, there’s a direct correlation between passion and performance.

The question is even more fascinating as it relates to Durant. Nine seasons in, and with an NBA title still missing from the former MVP’s remarkable resume, Durant shocked the basketball world by joining the Warriors in free agency. As he learned in 2012 during the London Olympics, it doesn’t get much better than winning it all in the Games.

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But Wednesday’s game went deeper than that for Durant.

As he looked up in the stands during those final minutes against Argentina – thousands of fans from both sides chanting, flags waving, the building booming in the kind of way you never see in the NBA – he soaked in the spirit of it all and thought about how much it contrasted to the troubling times back home. If only for a moment, America's many problems - the racial tension, police brutality, political divides and all the rest - didn’t seem quite so big.

“To see that, and to feel that unity (at the game) with all that’s going on in our country right now, it was amazing,” said Durant, who looked plenty motivated in the 105-78 win over Argentina in which he had 27 points, seven rebounds and six assists. “Just to hear ‘USA,’ it just shows that we’re the most powerful and greatest country there is, and to see everyone come together no matter (the) race, no matter the background, anything, just to hear that, that’s what I thought about. It was amazing, man. I wish I could’ve taped that moment, but I didn’t have my phone on me.



“The fans just have so much pride, man, and I feel like we can do that (in America). But we’re just so separated, man. It’s sad to see. I just hope at some point, as a nation, that we just start to find it.”

As Durant sees it, there is a lesson to be learned from the teams they’re trying to take down.

“We played Australia (on Aug. 10), and those guys were hugging when the anthem came on, and those fans were singing it – the fans were singing the anthem, and you could tell they take pride in where they come from,” Durant said. “Last night (against Argentina) it felt like we were all just one, and we only (started chanting “USA”) because we were like, ‘Oh, we can’t let them outshine us.’ But that’s pride for our country, right?”

And that’s what gave Durant the chills. Soon enough, it might give Team USA the world championship.

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