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Kevin Durant not ruling out playing for Team USA in ’28 Games

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Olympics: Basketball-Women Semifinal - USA-SRBAug 6, 2021; Saitama, Japan; USA men’s team player Kevin Durant looks on as the United States play Serbia in the women’s basketball semifinal during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Summer Games at Saitama Super Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kareem Elgazzar-Imagn Images

If Team USA calls Kevin Durant for a shot at his fifth Gold medal in the 2028 Olympics, he plans to be ready.

Durant will be 39 in 2028 when Los Angeles hosts the Summer Games. Only women’s stars Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird, with six and five gold medals respectively for Team USA, have won more golds in basketball than Durant.

“Hell yeah, I want to play,” Durant said. “I would love to, but I’ve got to stay on top of my game. I’m not expecting, I want to produce on the floor and make (USA Basketball president) Grant (Hill) and whoever is making the decisions, want to put me on the team. I don’t want — not just for seniority. I want to still prove I can help the team win. Today, yeah I feel like I’ll put my name in that hat.”

The self-described gym junkie said if he remains effective on the court as age 40 approaches, there is no reason he wouldn’t be open to another run in the Olympics despite a working narrative that LeBron James, Steph Curry and Durant were all unlikely to be back with Team USA. Curry turns 38 next month. James is 41.

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“You guys, the media, have projected that. I didn’t say I wasn’t playing. LeBron said he wasn’t,” Durant told ESPN. “You didn’t hear that from me or Steph.”

Durant told ESPN he views the criticism of American basketball being “ruined” by Curry or the AAU style of play as a racial critique.

“I just don’t like the talk around the USA versus European style of how you approach the game,” Durant told ESPN. “All I hear is, ‘AAU is destroying the game, the Euros do it right while the Americans do it wrong.’ It’s a lot of bulls– with that. I can read between the lines on that. It’s a shot at Black Americans. We’re controlling the sport. They’re tired of us controlling the sport. ‘France is coming for you.’ Really? We smacked them boys.”

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–Field Level Media

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Diablo 4 Azmodan’s Greater Hoard objective guide

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In Diablo 4 Season 11: Divine Intervention, Azmodan is tied to the seasonal lesser evil encounter events. This encounter takes place in a specific zone called the Fields of Desecration. This can be found on the eastern side of Zarbinzet in Hawezar. During this season’s event, you can summon Azmodan and participate in this large-scale boss encounter; beating him gives you access to his Hoard.

In this guide, we will break down how to open the hoard of Azmodan, what materials are required, and how to fix a few buggy instances.


Diablo 4: How to farm the Greater Hoard of Azmodan

You will need to farm Azmodan's Corrupted Tongue to open the Hoard of Azmodan (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)You will need to farm Azmodan's Corrupted Tongue to open the Hoard of Azmodan (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)
You will need to farm Azmodan’s Corrupted Tongue to open the Hoard of Azmodan (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Azmodan doesn’t spawn randomly in Diablo 4; you are required to summon him through the Lesser Evil system in the Fields of Desecration. To summon Azmodan, you will need to:

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  • Activate the Lesser Evil Altar using Corrupted Essences (can be acquired by defeating other Lesser Evils).
  • Once activated, the invasion begins, leading to a large-scale boss fight.

As with other world boss encounters, any nearby player can join the fight. Once he’s defeated, Azmodan has a chance of dropping one Corrupted Tongue of Azmodan. This is not a guaranteed drop and requires multiple attempts at Azmodan.

Summoning Azmodan requires you to farm Corrupted Essences (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)Summoning Azmodan requires you to farm Corrupted Essences (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)
Summoning Azmodan requires you to farm Corrupted Essences (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Corrupted Tongue of Azmodan is required to open the Hoard of Azmodan. To open his Hoard, you will need:

  • 5x Corrupted Tongue of Azmodan

Upon collecting the necessary amount of Tongues, you will need to summon and defeat Azmodan once more (but this time as a World Boss and not in Hawezar) to spawn the Hoard. Once Azmodan’s Hoard appears, you can spend the Corrupted Tongues of Azmodan to claim the rewards.

Azmodan’s Hoard can yield the following rewards:

  • Legendary Items
  • Crafting materials
  • Gold
  • Other valuable Season 11 rewards

To progress towards the season’s Greater Hoard objective, you must defeat Azmodan as a World Boss multiple times and open his Hoard using the Corrupted Tongues that drop from him.

The progression only counts if and when you open Azmodan’s Hoard and not just from slaying Azmodan in the Fields of Desecration. Successfully opening the Hoard will immediately count towards the Greater Hoard seasonal progression in Diablo 4 Season 11.

How to efficiently farm Corrupted Tongues

The Greater Hoard progression is tied to Seasonal events (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)The Greater Hoard progression is tied to Seasonal events (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)
The Greater Hoard progression is tied to Seasonal events (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Corrupted Tongues can only be acquired by defeating the Azmodan world boss in Season 11. They can’t be acquired from any other bosses, dungeons, or activities, making it the only farming method.

Here are some of the tips and tricks to farm Corrupted Tongues efficiently:

  • Only one Corrupted Tongue from a single encounter with Azmodan.
  • To successfully spawn Azmodan’s Hoard, you will need to kill Azmodan multiple times.
  • Shorten the time between invasions by using a build with excellent single-target damage and staying near the Fields of Desecration.

Also read – Diablo 4 Season 12: The strongest builds, based on PTR meta


What is the Purified Tongue of Azmodan?

These Purified Tongue of Azmodan can be used at the secret Altar of Sin (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)These Purified Tongue of Azmodan can be used at the secret Altar of Sin (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)
These Purified Tongue of Azmodan can be used at the secret Altar of Sin (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Occasionally, Azmodan’s Hoard will drop a Purified Tongue of Azmodan. This item is not used for the progression toward the Hoard of Azmodan; instead, it’s used at the secret shrine. This shrine teleports you to a secret dungeon where you must fight against multiple Lesser Evils. This is extremely difficult but offers an alternative method of acquiring endgame gear.

Also read – Diablo 4 Season 12 PTR: Best builds for every class

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Known bugs regarding Azmodan’s Hoard

While the invasion of Azmodan works, it is possible that Azmodan’s Hoard doesn’t spawn after the boss fight.

Here are a few things that cause the bug:

  • Leaving the Fields of Desecration too quickly after slaying Azmodan.
  • Heavy player traffic causes the invasion event to phase incorrectly.
  • The hoard interaction prompt fails to register.

There is no right way to fix this bug, but here are a few things you can try:

  • If the Hoard doesn’t appear despite you having five Corrupted Tongues of Azmodan, it is suggested to remain inside the invasion zone till the event is resolved completely.
  • If the issue continues, try participating in the next Azmodan event.

Also read – Diablo 4 Lord of Hatred will bring back iconic crafting item from D2


The Greater Hoard of Azmodan objective is not inherently buggy; it’s poorly described, which in turn makes it confusing to players. It should clearly be mentioned that only the World Boss version of Azmodan spawns the Hoard.

If the Hoard is not appearing, check the version of Azmodan you are fighting, as there are no hidden mechanics related to the Greater Hoard of Azmodan.

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Check out our other guides related to the game: