PARIS, France — As Team USA gears up to face Serbia on Sunday in its Olympic opener, Kevin Durant’s status has been a frequent focus to monitor. He missed all five exhibition matches because of a calf strain but has been practicing with genuine progress being made toward making a return.

When addressing reporters before Saturday’s practice, Team USA head coach Steve Kerr noted that the current plan is to take it “day by day” with Durant. He looked good at Thursday’s scrimmage, and there is optimism that he can play against Serbia.

The current focus Kerr communicated was to determine Durant’s status after Saturday’s practice based on his condition. “Hopefully (he’ll play),” Kerr told reporters. “He came through the scrimmage two days ago pretty well, and we’ll have another practice today, and we’ll just keep taking it day by day.”

It remains to be seen what the starting lineup would be if Durant returns to game competition, but it’s clear the group is excited to have the superstar wingback competing alongside them, regardless.

Kevin Durant’s return would make a “huge impact” for Team USA!

LeBron James was among the players who spoke with reporters before Saturday’s practice, and he made it clear that Kevin Durant looked great in practice on Thursday. Managing to regain Durant in the lineup would make a “huge impact” for Team USA, says James, who served as the men’s flag-bearer for the Americans at the Opening Ceremony on Friday.

“Instant impact,” James said of Durant. “He looked extremely well the other day in practice. Obviously, his wind and his rhythm is going to continue to come, but if we’re able to get him back and make a huge impact to our club.”

Durant’s presence would present Team USA with no shortage of potential options regarding lineup combinations and the ability to overwhelm the opposition with a combination of perimeter size and skill. His combination of shot creation, off-catch attacking, and defensive versatility, paired with the American’s array of dynamic bigs, can make it daunting to game plan for them. Factor in James and Stephen Curry, among others, and it’s all the more challenging.

There are other ailments to monitor ahead of Sunday’s game for Team USA. Joel Embiid missed Saturday’s practice because of illness. There seems to be an illness around Team USA since Anthony Davis was sidelined on Thursday after coming down with a sickness, but he participated in practice on Saturday.

Despite various illnesses, Kerr remains confident that Team USA will have the roster ready to play against Serbia. “I’m confident we’ll have everybody ready tomorrow,” he said.

A common theme for Team USA has been to focus on what they can control internally because they believe that nobody can beat them if they do. However, the opponent has to be accounted for, particularly when an individual talent as great as Nikola Jokić is leading the way.

Nikola Jokić, Serbia, presents a challenge for Team USA

A matchup against Serbia requires containing Nikola Jokić. Having Joel Embiid back in the lineup would go a long way, but Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo will surely be needed to make a substantial impact, regardless. Beyond that, it’ll take a collective effort because guarding Jokić goes far beyond the direct matchup. The group must be tied together on a defensive string, making rotations.

Davis fully expects Jokić to be aggressive in trying to will his Serbian team to a victory by any means, including having a higher usage rate than he typically carries when leading the Denver Nuggets in the NBA. “Jokic, with what he’s able to do. Obviously, we know what he does at NBA, but maybe a little bit higher usage in the international game,” Davis said of Jokic. “It’s going to be fun.”

Not much needs to be said amongst players about the urgency required in each game, but James communicated the need to set the tone early. “This is not like the NBA, where it’s a marathon,” James emphasized. “This is a sprint, this is a Michael Johnson/Usain Bolt-type game. The real thing starts tomorrow … so we need to be ready to go, which we will be.”

During Team USA’s training camp, Embiid made clear that he doesn’t care about specifically having to take on Jokić. He focuses on doing whatever it takes to lead his group to victory. Naturally, a lot gets made about head-to-head matchups involving Embiid and Jokić, considering the NBA MVP race has featured them frequently in recent years, with Embiid winning it over Jokić in 2023.

“I don’t care about Jokić. I’m playing for my national team,” Embiid said during Las Vegas training camp. “It’s all about focusing on ourselves and trying to make sure everybody’s on the same page. When we get there, we’ve got to know what we got to focus on. Right now it’s just about finding ways to get better every single day.”

If Team USA takes care of business internally, there should be more than enough firepower to defeat Serbia despite having to account for Jokić. A failure to do so could be an indictment on adding Embiid to the group, considering one can safely assume his presence against such a big man’s talent was a motivational factor in recruiting him so aggressively to become a naturalized addition.