Popovich doesn't want KD to rush rehab for Olympics

United States men's national basketball team head coach Gregg Popovich doesn't want Kevin Durant to rush his rehab to play for the team in the 2020 Olympics.

"My feeling on that is that I would want Kevin to be absolutely ready to go, working out, playing five-on-five, that his organization and he both feel like it's time to play," the San Antonio Spurs head coach said Friday, according to ESPN. "I wouldn't want to be any part of him being 60% or 70% and just starting to get in shape because of the Olympics.

"The Olympics are important, it's huge, but he's got a career to take care of here with the Nets. I would rather have him do that if he's not totally ready to play this summer."

Durant joined the Brooklyn Nets in a sign-and-trade last summer, but he won't play during the 2019-20 season while recovering from a torn right Achilles tendon suffered in the Golden State Warriors' NBA Finals loss last June.

The 31-year-old has been part of the last two Olympic squads, leading Team USA to gold in London in 2012 and in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Rich Kleiman, Durant's business partner, recently sparked interest in the possibility of the 31-year-old making an Olympics return.

"(Tokyo is) definitely a possibility," Kleiman told The Washington Post's Ben Golliver last week. "He allowed his name to be in the group of finalists. But there are other benchmarks in front of him that are more important before he makes those decisions."