LONDON — As expected, Kevin Durant participated in his first Team USA practice of the summer Friday, but neither he nor coach Steve Kerr would commit to him playing in either of the U.S. Olympic team’s next two exhibition games.

“I would love for him to play in a game, but we have to take it day by day,” Kerr said.

“I’m going to see how I feel after practice today,” Durant added.

Durant, USA Basketball’s all-time leading scorer, was injured in a workout days before the start of camp on July 6, and upon reporting to Team USA in Las Vegas asked for an MRI that revealed the strain, a team source said. He has conducted light shooting and personal drills off to the side during camp, but Friday was the first time he took the court with teammates for practice.

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Durant was trending toward a return during the team’s London swing, as The Athletic reported Thursday.

Durant said he “always had those concerns” that his calf injury would ultimately cost him a chance to participate in his fourth Olympics — no male has ever won four Olympic golds and he could become the first — but said he sees “progress every day.”

“It’s one of those things you just got to monitor every day and see how I feel after I do certain movements and certain exercises,” he said. “But my thing is just keep grinding and see what happens.”

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The U.S. plays South Sudan in an exhibition game Saturday at O2 Arena and defending World Cup champion Germany on Monday. After those two friendlies, Team USA’s next game will count — against Serbia in the Olympic opener on July 28 in Lille, France.

Kerr has said LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Joel Embiid will start, but has yet to decide the other two starters. Kerr confirmed Friday that not getting a look at Durant yet is a factor.

“More firepower, more leadership, more experience in the FIBA game,” James said, when asked what Durant would bring to the Team USA lineup. “We welcome his return. We’re looking forward to him getting back out there and it just keeps us as strong as we can be.”

Anthony Edwards is the Americans’ leading scorer at 14.3 points per game. Curry is behind him at 13.0 ppg. Durant’s career scoring average at the Olympics is 19.8 ppg but the U.S. may not necessarily need him to score as much this time. James, who is the NBA’s all-time scoring king, is averaging 9.3 points and 2.7 assists this summer.

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You might argue Durant’s pending return can and will create an embarrassment of riches for Team USA, which has already won the last three Olympic golds, but throughout Durant’s two-week absence, multiple team sources stressed how much they feel he will be needed to win another Olympic title. Kerr continues to emphasize that the U.S. will win with defense, and Durant can be a second rim protector on a starting unit that already has Embiid.

“I feel like I am a versatile player that can be put in any position,” Durant said. “I can shoot the ball too, so it’s always good to have shooters on the team. So, I’ll try to simplify the game as much as possible, whatever my teammates need me to do, coaches need me to do, I’ll try to be there to do it.”

(Photo: Joe Murphy / NBAE via Getty Images)