National Basketball Association (NBA) stars Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks were back on the court last Tuesday at the USA Basketball (USAB) minicamp in Las Vegas.
Both Durant and Anthony faced injuries which limited the games they played in during the 2014–15 season.
Durant suffered a Jones fracture back in October and since then had three foot surgeries to get it fully repaired.
The 2014 Most Valuable Player (MVP) only played in 27 games for the Thunder, the team that missed the playoffs last season for the first time in six seasons.
Durant still did well though, averaging 25.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game.
Being back on the court for the first time since his third surgery last March, the 26-year-old player told reporters, "Iron sharpens iron. I'd be a fool if I didn't get with any of these guys. If I wanted to be secretive about workouts, or be by myself, I'd be stupid to do that. To bounce ideas off of Chris Paul, LaMarcus Aldridge, Draymond Green,Steph Curry, that's like heaven, like being in basketball heaven with these guys."
Durant has played for Team USA on two gold medal-winning occasions in the 2010 FIBA World Championships in Turkey and in the 2012 London Olympics.
Meanwhile, Anthony returned to the court since playing in the 2015 All-Star Game and after a knee surgery last February.
In the camp, Anthony told reporters that being with Team USA gives him a chance to do something special as he has been part of the program since he was 18 years old.
The eight-time All-Star said he can go for a third Olympic gold medal together with players like LeBron James and Chris Paul playing in what could be his fourth Olympics if he gets selected for the 12-man roster.
Anthony has been part of Team USA six times and has won a total of three gold medals and three bronze medals in all the international competitions for the United States.
In the NBA last season, Anthony was limited to only 40 games for the struggling Knicks who only mustered 17 wins.
The 31-year-old athlete still racked good numbers as he averaged 24.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.0 steal per outing.
USAB's minicamp has two days of light practice before an intersquad exhibition game on the third and last days, in which Durant and Anthony are reportedly not participating in.
