LILLE — It’s a testament to the depth, talent and sheer audacity of the American men’s basketball team when it can find motivation to open the 2024 Olympics … from a sinister Sixth Man.

Well, when that guy coming off the bench is the all-time leading Olympic scorer in USA history, what else would anyone expect?

It went deeper than Kevin Durant, of course. But in USA’s breezy 110-84 romp over Serbia, he was the headliner, quite impressive on a team he shares with LeBron James and Stephen Curry.

“KD was phenomenal,” James said.

“To have KD on my side is a treat for sure.”

LeBron after his near triple-double performance in USA’s #Paris2024 opener! 🇺🇸

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— NBA (@NBA) July 28, 2024

And so the alarm was sounded in the men’s competition, and it blared loudly Sunday, and this is perhaps what we can expect from the Americans, not only in Group Play, but next week in the knockout round.

Here are five takeaways from USA’s Olympic opener, the reasons for victory and why Jayson Tatum went from NBA champion to sitting this one out.

1. Kevin Durant returns with force 

You know who he is. And in case you forgot, or haven’t studied up on USA Basketball, he was the leading bucket-getter on Team USA in the last three Olympics.

Make that four, just one game into the 2024 Olympics.

The rust from missing all five exhibition games, a handful of practices since camp began three weeks ago with a calf strain, and not suiting up since April 29? That was only a small factor.

“I was tired,” he said. “I’m not gonna lie to you.”

And from what everyone saw in his most recent practice when he couldn’t seem to miss, what he did Sunday was no surprise.

“He showed why he’s my favorite player of all time,” said Anthony Edwards.

And so, Durant merely re-established himself as a USA force in the Olympics with astonishing shot-making. The fallaway jumper right before the halftime buzzer, on a pass from LeBron? The chef’s kiss.

“He’s the most skilled player I think I’ve ever seen, for a guy that size to be able to shoot the ball that well with the athleticism movement and flow,” said USA coach Steve Kerr.

Durant turbocharged the first half by making all of his shots, connecting on all five of his 3-pointers and didn’t miss until his ninth shot.

“And let me tell you,” Durant said about that shot, “it felt great leaving my hands. I wanted to end the night perfect.”

In some ways, it was.

“I eased him in,” Kerr said. “He didn’t ease himself back in.”

In his 1,061 games played in the NBA, Durant has come off the bench only three times. This time was injury-related and Kerr didn’t want to rush anything.

Durant is likely to start Wednesday, but even if he doesn’t?

“I’m willing to do anything and adapt to anything,” he said.

2. Fastest man is also the oldest

Aside from the sight of Durant making shot after shot, the most recurring scene from Sunday was LeBron’s ability to beat everyone to the ball, to the spot and down the court.

It should be mentioned that he turns 40 this year.

Once again, LeBron defied all common biological sense and laws of efficiency for 27 minutes. He led the fast break, pushing the ball and damaging Serbia in the process. His passes found teammates (nine assists), he reached his spots for shots (21 points) and he beat players to the glass (eight rebounds).

He was just quicker than anyone Serbia threw at him.

“He puts fear into the other team,” Durant said.

It was an all-around solid performance from LeBron, two decades since his first Olympic appearance. He has eased into the role as this team’s soul and play-starter, evident by a pair of pretty lobs to Edwards and Anthony Davis.

“LeBron puts his imprint on the game in so many different ways,” Kerr said. “It’s not just his skill, it’s his emotion, his confidence just the way he infuses our team. At 39, it’s just amazing.”

3. The Embiid Enigma continues

The 2022-23 Kia MVP is still raising more question marks than his level of play. He was inconsistent, a bit reckless and seemingly not in shape or the best of health in exhibition games. Nothing changed in the Olympic opener.

Serbia went up 10-2 with Embiid in the starting lineup. Team USA had its best stretch once he was quickly pulled by Kerr.

What happens from here? If Kerr benches Embiid (three fouls, two baskets), it would be admitting a mistake, but Davis and even Bam Adebayo have looked better since camp began. Kerr wants them as a bench tandem, though.

There’s also the likelihood of Embiid being singled out in another way for the rest of this tournament — he was booed, no surprise, on Sunday because the French don’t forget or forgive easily.

When Embiid, who has dual citizenship, chose to play for Team USA over France — he said it was for his son, born in America — the locals took unkindly to it, even though the Cameroon-born Embiid has no connection, basketball or otherwise, to France.

4. The best Celtic was … Derrick White?

He was a last-minute addition to the team but one of the first players off the bench Sunday. To say White’s ascent has soared would be understating it.

There are reasons why Kerr loves him. White doesn’t demand the ball or minutes, he’s an easy fit in any lineup, and his defense is stellar. Five minutes after he checked in against Serbia, White snatched a pair of steals and helped a comeback.

It’s not just his quick hands, but his feet as White is great on switches and staying in position to make something happen.

It’s probably safe to say he’s giving Team USA everything it would’ve received from Kawhi Leonard, the player he replaced two weeks ago.

5. Tatum rides the bench

He went from winning a championship to not playing a single minute in the Olympic opener. That’s quite the unexpected slide in one month.

The last time Tatum never got off the bench was perhaps middle school, if ever. He didn’t stick around after the game to confirm.

But Kerr did confirm this: “He handled it well.”

This is one of those awkward situations on a team with 12 stars. Someone either won’t see many minutes or no minutes at all. Davis, for instance, was a towel-waver in his first Olympics in 2012.

In this case, Kerr wanted to give Durant, who hadn’t played a game in almost three months, some burn and it came at Tatum’s expense.

“It’s really hard in a 40-minute game to play more than 10 guys,” Kerr said. “I went with the combinations that would make the most sense. It seems crazy. I thought I was crazy when I looked at everything. Jayson is one of the best players in the world. I talked to him, he was incredibly professional.”

As with everything on this team, Kerr said nothing is permanent and each game could bring something different.

“The key to this whole thing is to put all the NBA stuff in the rear view and win six games,” Kerr said. “He will make his mark.”

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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.

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