Kevin Durant, 23, will cap off a busy few months in London. In June he played in his first NBA finals — his Oklahoma City Thunder lost in five games to the Miami Heat. Now he’s going for his first Olympic gold. Durant has already dominated on the international stage: during the 2010 world championships, he was unstoppable. In America’s semifinal win over Lithuania, he scored 38 points, a U.S. record for a world-championship tournament. Against Turkey in the gold-medal game, Durant hit seven three-pointers — another world-championship record. He led the U.S. to its first world title since 1994. Adding him to a mix that includes returning Beijing gold medalists Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade makes Team USA the overwhelming favorite in hoops.
50 Olympic Athletes to Watch
From Qatar to South Africa, Russia to the U.S., TIME takes you around the globe to meet the extraordinary men and women you’ll be seeing this summer at the London Games
Kevin Durant
Basketball, U.S.
Full List
Athletes to Watch
- Rebecca Adlington
- Tony Azevedo
- Kenenisa Bekele
- Yohan Blake
- Usain Bolt
- Veronica Campbell-Brown
- Mark Cavendish
- Oksana Chusovitina
- Tom Daley
- Phil Dalhausser
- Gabrielle Douglas
- Kevin Durant
- Brady Ellison
- Matthew Emmons
- Jessica Ennis
- Allyson Felix
- Missy Franklin
- Tony Gunawan
- Bahiya Al-Hamad
- Trey Hardee
- Im Dong Hyun
- Larisa Iordache
- Yelena Isinbayeva
- Lolo Jones
- Lin Dan
- Liu Xiang
- Ryan Lochte
- Holley Mangold
- Ous Mellouli
- Carolina Mendoza
- LaShawn Merritt
- Alex Morgan
- Fabiana Murer
- Aliya Mustafina
- Sally Pearson
- Michael Phelps
- Paula Radcliffe
- Kimberly Rhode
- Dayron Robles
- Caster Semenya
- Hope Solo
- Nur Suryani Mohd Taibi
- Katie Taylor
- Allison Schmitt
- Aisuluu Tynybekova
- Kohei Uchimura
- Kerri Walsh
- Rau’shee Warren
- Jordyn Wieber
- Mariel Zagunis