Durant, Harden and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Chet Holmgren participate in a workout after the Trojans’ practice, one of the new coach’s goals for his players.
LOS ANGELES — He ambled into the Galen Center about as inconspicuously as his stature would allow, a knit beanie cozied atop his head and black compression tights tucked into his socks, and yet there was no mistaking Kevin Durant from his nearly 7-foot-frame.
As Eric Musselman led the USC basketball team through a flurry of a summer workout on Wednesday morning, Durant perched in the lower seats of the arena for a few moments, the Phoenix Suns star intently watching the Trojans’ down-and-backs. The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Chet Holmgren stood nearby, stretching limbs that would make a gazelle jealous. A few minutes later, the Clippers’ James Harden strolled in.
As USC’s practice wound down, Trojans forward Terrance Williams exchanged a dap with Durant and a few laughs coming off the floor, Williams being a fellow native of the DMV area in Maryland.
“That made my day, coming from a legend,” Williams said a few minutes later, beaming wide. “DMV legend, so.”
This was by design, from a new coach with a longtime NBA background and a clear emphasis on taking advantage of USC’s location. Orlando Magic star Paolo Banchero dropped by USC’s facility on Friday. Chicago Bulls star and former USC star DeMar DeRozan was there a few days earlier.
During Musselman’s introductory press conference in April, USC athletic director Jen Cohen made abundantly clear the former Arkansas coach was targeted in part to infuse energy around the program, a unifier entering a new era in the Big Ten Conference. And as he sets about molding a new-look roster, Musselman also appears intent on re-establishing USC’s place in the basketball ethos of Los Angeles and beyond, starting with the revolving door of NBA talent cycling through Galen.
“We in L.A., so he wants all the NBA players to come work out, and he wants us to come work out with them when we can,” said Williams, a transfer from Michigan. “And just to see them work out, just the work ethic they bring – it’s like he say, if we want to get to that level, we’ve got to watch them, work out with them and see what they do. So it’s kind of big.”
Musselman had recruited Holmgren – a former Gonzaga product – in high school at Nevada. Harden is a Southern California native, and Durant has populated summer workouts with fellow NBA talent for years. They all took the court together after USC’s practice wrapped, assistant coach Will Conroy leading the group in a drill and barking advice on their touch on floaters.
USC players have already started participating in workouts, Musselman said, with Williams and Saint Thomas working out with Banchero in his visit the previous week. The goal eventually, Musselman said, was for workouts to turn into summer pickup games, a different developmental lane for the talent on his roster.
“I just think it’s good for all of our guys,” Musselman said Wednesday. “You can see their habits, and what makes them great.”
Yale transfer forward Matt Knowling will undergo surgery for a sports hernia, according to Musselman and USC, which will keep him out approximately 8-12 weeks. He’ll join Xavier transfer Desmond Claude in missing summer workouts, USC’s anticipated starting point guard undergoing a couple of elbow surgeries to “clean up small debris,” Musselman said two weeks ago.
