Every time the United States plays in an international basketball tournament, there are fans who want to see the NBA adopt some of the FIBA rules. FIBA rules are the standard in most other basketball leagues in the world, making the NBA rules unique in that regard. Kevin Durant is not one of those people.
On Sunday, Team USA defeated Serbia in a 110-84 rout. Kevin Durant led all scorers, finishing the game with 23 points. He ended the first half 8/8 from the field and 5/5 from 3-point land to finish with 21. He did not need to play much in the second half. The US took a 9-point lead into halftime that quickly ballooned to 22. The lead settled at 26, their margin of victory. During some downtime between their defeat of Serbia and their next game on Wednesday, Durant, a frequent social media user, took to X (formerly Twitter) to push back against some fans who wanted to see more international rules make their way to the American game.
Kevin Durant Responds To FIBA Rules vs. NBA Rules Debate
Kevin Durant is one of the most accomplished American basketball players around in international play. He's won three Olympic gold medals in 2012, 2016, and 2020, and won gold at the 2010 FIBA World Cup. It is safe to say that he is very familiar with the differences between the international and American games. Since the NBA's primary goal is to be an entertainment product, the rules are different to make games more enjoyable for fans. Moreover, things like defensive 3-second violations and goaltending are not rules in other leagues, but they are in the NBA. Fans often clamor for those rules to be done away with after watching international competition. Clearly, Durant does not share those sentiments.
Team USA are the favorites to win gold once again. However, the rest of the world has gotten more talented. Olympic host country France gave the US a difficult time during the gold medal game in Tokyo. This United States team is much better than the one that nearly finished with a silver medal three years ago. Durant, one of the greatest players of all time, would be great regardless of what the NBA rulebook looked like. It is always interesting to get his perspective on basketball topics, especially ones that are discussed as often among fans as "FIBA rules vs. NBA rules" is.