Kevin Durant has won four Olympic gold medals and is Team USA’s all-time leading scorer. The Rockets’ star will be nearing 40 years old when the 2028 Olympics come around again, but despite his age and significant previous accomplishments, he’s not ready to hang up the international towel just yet.

He recently doubled down on previous statements regarding his desire to compete for his fifth gold medal, should his game still be at the level required, writes Nick Friedell of The Athletic (subscriber link).

Out of the hundreds of thousands of elite professional athletes that have competed in the Olympics, only 67 men have ever been five-time medalists. But beyond the prestige that would come with such an accomplishment, there’s a simpler reason he wants to be there in 2028.

“It’s just fun, man,” Durant said at the end of last season. “It’s an incredible time. You get to travel the world. I don’t know if we’re gonna get to travel the world with it being in the States, but the last few years, we would go (to) Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Paris, London, Canary Islands, Madrid … being in places that changed not just my perspective about the game, just about life in general.”

In 2021, then-coach Gregg Popovich had a simple expression to sum up Durant’s importance to the national team: “No Kevin, no gold,” he said. In 2024, Durant averaged 13.8 points in 22.2 minutes on absurd .540/.519/.938 shooting splits.

Durant has also become a vocal advocate for players around the league to experience the feeling of suiting up for their country.

“Bol Bol had the chance to play for South Sudan, and I was encouraging him to do so,” Durant said. “I think he might have been injured, but I’m like, man, you need to go experience the Olympics. … Being able to play on that stage and see the pride that people have for where they come from, I think every player should experience that.”