Kerr Reportedly Will Start Kevin Durant Over Jrue Holiday In Gold Medal Game

In the final moment, in the fourth quarter of a semifinal showdown with Serbia, as the U.S.’s gold medal dreams faded to nothing (or perhaps bronze), Steve Kerr trusted in the NBA’s old lions: Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Stephen Curry. They delivered in the most dramatic way possible.

Against France in the gold medal game on Saturday Kerr doesn’t wait for the final minutes he will start Durant reports Shams Charania of The Athletic. He will replace Jrue Holiday in the starting five.

This isn’t a big shock. First, France has real size in their lineup, especially with Victor Wembanyama in the lineup, and Durant is a bit bigger than Holiday. Second, before we knew how long Durant would be sidelined – for the entire set of exhibition games leading up to the Olympics – the expectation was that Durant would move into the starting lineup. Perhaps there is an argument to be made for maintaining the winning rotation, but Kerr understandably doesn’t want to mess around in the gold medal game when a talented French team will be fired up and playing in front of a raucous crowd. (The U.S. better expect a lot of hostile dog-whistling, too.)

That makes the starting five Stephen Curry, Devin Booker, LeBron James, Durant and Joel Embiid. Expect Anthony Davis to come off the bench quickly, as Kerr will need his size and mobility against France.

The U.S. will face France for the gold medal in Paris starting at 12:30 p.m. Eastern. You can follow all the action with our live blog here at NBCSports.com, and if you want to tune in, the game will be broadcast on NBC or can be streamed on Peacock.