For Durant, the U.S. men’s basketball team is like one big get-together

Four years ago at the Beijing Olympics, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh began to hatch the idea of playing together in the NBA. Back then, they were only U.S. teammates and not the Big Three who eventually would win an NBA title with the Miami Heat.

Kevin Durant has never given any hint that he would follow a similar professional path to James. But he’s also got less temptation in London this summer. After all, two of his fellow Oklahoma City Thunder teammates, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, are on the national team already.

“I’m always comfortable, especially playing,” Durant said. “Going into my sixth year, I’m comfortable around everybody, so I feel good. But having my two guys here makes it even funner. I’m excited to be here, and I’m just happy to be hanging around guys like Deron Williams and James and Carmelo [Anthony] and guys like that.”

The meshing of NBA foes will play a secondary role to the meshing of young and old for this group. The roster, which has been affected by a number of injuries, carries five holdovers from the last Olympics: James, Anthony, Williams, Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul. It also has five participants from the 2010 FIBA World Championship squad: Durant, Westbrook, Andre Iguodala, Kevin Love and Tyson Chandler.

“This is a bigger stage for us,” Durant said. “The Olympics is much bigger. We had a lot of young guys on that 2010 team. All the guys that didn’t play, we filled out the roster with young guys so that helped us out, helped me out, helped Russ out, Kevin Love, Tyson Chandler, guys that were on that team. I’m glad it’s kind of a mixture between the two.”

Wade, who led the 2008 team in scoring, will miss this summer following knee surgery. But the next three leading scorers from Beijing — James (15.5 points per game), Bryant (15.0 ppg) and Anthony (11.5 ppg) — are all returning. Two years ago in Turkey, Durant (22.8 ppg) was the leading scorer.

In the U.S. team’s first two Olympic preparation games this month, Durant came off the bench. Against the Dominican Republic, he poured in 24 points. Against Brazil, James had 30. Both have tried to put last month’s NBA Finals behind them.

“We’ve been friends, and we compete hard when we play against each other,” Durant said. “We’re friends, and it’s made it easier to come out here and play together. If we didn’t like each other, that’d be different.”

Coming off an NBA title and league MVP season, there will be no bigger personality at the Olympics and no player more critical to Team USA’s success than James.

“I think LeBron is not just a great player; LeBron is a great competitor,” U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “When he goes to the basket, he doesn’t — he doesn’t get the call, even when he finishes, because he’s so strong. He goes through contact. His will to win was the most inspiring thing that we had on our team. He has a very, very competitive game, our best player.”

Harden said the change in Durant’s role and the weight of the NBA Finals defeat haven’t affected him.

“He’s same person, no matter where he’s at, who he’s around,” Harden said. “I think that’s the mindset that all these guys have.”

That mindset ensured 2008 wasn’t just for brainstorming about future NBA dynasties. Even though the U.S. roster is full of young players like Durant who will seek to bask in the Olympic experience, they have been reminded by Bryant and the veterans about what takes precedence.

“Just to prepare every day,” Bryant said on his advice from winning the gold in China. “We didn’t skip any steps. We prepared every day as if it was our last, and we were ready to go.”

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