Each U.S. team practice reminds Durant of finals loss

LAS VEGAS – Kevin Durant can’t hide from the hurt this summer.

LeBron James is right there every time he steps on the basketball court now. The NBA Finals ended in Miami only about three weeks ago, with James’ victory celebration interrupted only briefly to embrace his opponent in a consoling hug.

Durant admits it bothers him coming to the gym and seeing James every day.

“It does. It does, but what can I do?” Durant said Tuesday. “He’s my teammate now. I’m a team player. I can’t let that affect this. This is bigger than that. It’s tough to lose in the finals and play the guy you’ve been going up against for five games who beat you. So me, I’m just going to get over it, still be a great teammate, come out and play hard.”

Kobe Bryant was in Durant’s shoes four years ago, having to shake off the disappointment of a finals loss to the Boston Celtics and get back out on the court for the Olympics. He said it’s normal to not want to play for a few days.

“But then again, I wasn’t playing on the Olympic team with, you know, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce and (Kevin) Garnett,” Bryant said. “He’s got to look at LeBron every day. I didn’t have to do that. So I don’t know if I could do that. I’d probably be trying to destroy him every single day in practice to try to, I don’t know, take a little of the edge off maybe.”

James and Durant are actually friends. James invited Durant to work out with him last summer in Ohio.