Kevin Durant, center, is part of a team missing several stars for the world championships.
The major theme of the United States basketball team heading to Turkey for the world championships this month is the unknown.
With a so-called B-team roster void of stars like Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, the United States is a tepid favorite. And with three key big men -- Amar'e Stoudemire and the Lopez twins, Brook and Robin -- unable to play, the team's lack of size now matches its dearth of experience.
That leaves Kevin Durant as perhaps the only certainty for the United States. The feeling in the Unites States camp is that if the Americans are to win their first world championship since 1994, Durant will need to be their leading scorer.
"Without a doubt," the veteran guard Chauncey Billups said. "He'd better be."
Durant, 21, became the youngest N.B.A. scoring champion last season, and the world championship offers him a platform to move into the elite constellation of N.B.A. stars. His supple jump shot and athleticism will be on display Sunday at Madison Square Garden, where the United States will play France before heading to Europe.
And Durant, a player known for loyalty and humility, will have a forum on the world stage at a time when James's off-season free-agency spectacle prompted eye rolls.
So with no players from the 2008 Olympic Redeem Team representing the United States this summer, the coalescence of Durant's talent and image could not be timed better.
"He's the whole package," said Jerry Colangelo, USA Basketball's managing director. "This is his opportunity to come forth on an international stage."
But stepping to the fore, at least on a personal level, has never been easy for Durant. At the USA Basketball training camp in Las Vegas last month, he deflected questions about breaking through on a world stage, insisting he was hoping to make the team. That was after USA Basketball Coach Mike Krzyzewski said Durant was the only lock to make the team.
Durant dodged questions about becoming a team leader by deferring to Billups and Lamar Odom, who are the team's most experienced players.
"There's a lot of guys on this floor who know more than me," Durant said. "They can help me a lot more than I can help the other guys."
Click here to continue reading.
SOURCE: The New York Times
