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Kevin Durant High School Basketball to Rookie of the Year of NBA Championships :
In the early days of his career, Kevin Durant played in the Amateur Athletic Union League where he started to flourish his basketball skills. At that time Micheal Bisley also used to play in those teams later who also made it to the NBA Championships. During his high school days, Kevin played in 3 different high school teams. He played for his freshman and sophomore years at National Christian Academy Washington DC and took a transfer to Oakhill High School in his junior year. In his senior year, Kevin Durant played for Montrose Cristian High School where he gave a spectacular performance and secured "Washington Post Player of The Year" & "Most Valuable Player of McDonald's American Game" in 2006.
Duke University, the University of Kentucky, University of North Carolina were known as the powerhouse of basketball at that time. For his outstanding performance during his High school days, these universities started offering him Scholarships to Kevin Durant (KD). But Durant always wanted to join other universities except these because he wanted to stand out in his career by competing with these university teams. He joined the University of Texas and started playing for the Texas Longhorns in 2006.
Kevin played only for a year at the Texas Longhorns in 2006-2007 and scored 26PPG with 11 RPG as a freshman. He won multiple "Player of the Year" awards in that year including "Associated Press Player of the Year", "Naismith College Player of the Year", "Wooden Award for the Most Outstanding Men's College Basketball Player" and "Adolph Rupp Trophy". Kevin Durant was the first Freshman Player to win the "Naismith College Player of the Year".
After playing for a year in the Texas Longhorns college Basketball Team, he decided he was ready for the NBA. Durant made up his mind and declared for the NBA draft in 2007.
Why Kevin Durant Wears Only 35 Number Jersey?
Despite playing only for a year, Kevin Durant's 35 No. Jersey was retired respectfully by the Texas Longhorns in 2007. To date, Kevin Durant wears the same 35-number jersey. Every team he joined, he retained his jersey number to 35. There is a very tragic story behind this. Kevin used to play basketball in seat pleasant activity center in childhood. Big Chucky "Charles Craig" was the first mentor and coach of Kevin Durant, from whom he started to learn about basketball. It was just two months away from joining the Texas Longhorns, Charles was in a local Sports Bar in Washington D.C.He had fought that night with some locals in that bar. When he had just left the bar and come towards his car, a man shot him from point-blank range and Charles breathed his last.
This incident made Kevin Durant very much sad as he was very close to him. Charles was at the age of 35 when he was shot dead. In constant of his memory, Kevin started wearing the number 35 in his Jersey.
Early Days in the NBA: Seattle SuperSonics
Before the NBA draft, the height measurement of Kelvin Durant was recorded at 6 ft 9 inches (205.7 cm), but the actual height of Durant is 6 ft 11 inches. With his height, Kevin Durant has a good Wingspan. This means the maximum span of hands stretched together which is 7ft 5 inches. Most people think that Kelvin Durant was drafted to the NBA Championships by Oklahoma City, but the story is different here. Kelvin Durant was Drafted by Seattle Sonics in the second overall pick. After a year in the NBA Championship, Seattle supersonic was relocated to Oklahoma City in the summer of 2008 and the name of the team became Oklahoma City Thunder.
During his Days in the Seattle SuperSonics, he made multiple NBA Records. He secured the "NBA Rookie of the Year" title from the Seattle SuperSonics while scoring most of the points. He was the first in the Seattle SuperSonics to win the title of "NBA Rookie of the Year". In NBA 2007, the average score per game of Kevin Durant was 20. He was the third teenage sensation after Lebron James and Carmelo Anthony who had an average score of above 20 at that time. Looking at this performance every NBA lover had in his mind that " Kevin Durant was going to be the NBA superstar."
The Sponsorship Race :
2010 FIBA World Cup : THE MVP
In the FIBA World Cup 2010, senior players like, Leborn James, Wayne Wade, Tim Duncan, and Kobe Bryant refused to play in Team USA. Kevin Durant didn't fail to grab this opportunity. He took this opportunity and became the leader of Team USA. In the FIBA World Cup 2010, Kevin Durant was on fire. He directed Team USA to win with his exceptional performance and an average score of 19.5. He was the MVP of the FIBA World Cup 2010.
Continue to the NBA Championship Journey of Kevin Durant
At just the age of 21, young firing Durant with an average point of 30 won the title of "NBA Most Points" in 2010. He was the youngest player to win this NBA Title. Kevin Durant was the only player who scored consecutive 25 points or more in straight 41 matches in the last 40 years. Playing from Oklahoma City Thunders, the 2012-13 NBA was historic for Kevin. In 2013, Kelvin Durant was the youngest person in the history of the NBA Championship to get an entry in the 50-40-90 club of the NBA.50-40-90 stands for 50 % Shooting Percentage, 40 % of 3pt. Shooting Percentage, 90%-Free Through Shooting Percentage. The player's avg. comes under these 50-40-90 stats they fall under NBA 50-40-90 Club.
For the fierce aggressive gaming style fans gave many nicknames to Kevin Durant. ie. The Durantula, The Slim Reaper. In an interview, Kevin said his favorite nickname is KD.
Rising Star in Oklahoma City: Oklahoma City Thunder
The golden era came for the Oklahoma City Thunder when Russell Westbrook joined them as a point guard. The combination of the dynamic explosive playing styles of Westbrook and Kevin Durant with the same goal of winning the NBA Championship formed an incredible duo one can ever think of.
In every match, Westbrook started making amazing plays while Durant scored more goals, this duo waved off many records and made the Oklahoma City Thunder the best of the beasts.
Durant and Westbrook were unstoppable together. Over their 6 seasons together on the Thunder, they combined to average 55.3 points, 15.3 rebounds, and 15.2 assists per game.
Durant became one of the NBA's top scorers ever. He led the league in scoring 4 years straight. Westbrook put up triple-doubles all the time. He averaged a triple-double for a whole season - 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, 10.4 assists per game.
They redefined what a scoring duo could do. Durant scoring 30 points and Westbrook getting 15 assists was normal for them. No other duo at the guard spots has been so dominant statistically before. Their numbers together were nothing short of remarkable.
The dominance of the Durant-Westbrook Duo made a remarkable series of six seasons together in the NBA.
In in NBA Championship of 2013 -14, he became the most valuable player (MVP) with 32 PPG, 7RBG, and 5 APG.
Despite being in the Top 3 players in the NBA, After failing in the 2012 NBA, He was constantly failing to win the NBA. Regrettably, every time it was in the playoffs.
It was the 2016 NBA Play-offs, and the prediction percentage of wins leaned towards Kevin Durant and his Team Oklahoma City Thunder, they were taking the lead 3-1 in the Western Conference final over the Team of Stephen Curry & Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors. But in the next two matches, the performance of Kevin Durant and the West group was very disappointing. These matches started Stephen Curry & Klay Thompson's incredible playmaking. The series became 3-2,3All and finally, 4-3 with the Blink and Golden State Warriors (GSW) winning the series.
Joining Forces with a Dynasty: Golden State Warriors (2016-2019)
This decision made KD the most hated player of the NBA from the most loved player of the NBA overnight. This incident spread hatred across the US.
During these controversies, KD started playing with the Golden State Warriors. Golden State Warriors had star players ie. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green & Andrew Wiggins. Joining the team, Kevin Durant won the NBA Titles of 2017 & 2018. He remained the MVP of these two matches.
New Beginnings: Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns (2019-Present)
It was 2019, Kevin Durant just joined the Brooklyn Nets and teamed up with Kyrie Irving. They were a very tough duo until Kevin suffered from Achilles tendonitis. He got sidelined from his career for the entire year. This injury was a major setback for him. Despite the setback, he returned to the game in the 2020 -21 season with an average of 27.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game in three seasons with the Brooklyn Nets.
In February 2023, Kevin Durant was traded for 1.94 billion (48.5 million per year ) USD by the Phoenix Suns.
Durant's move to the Phoenix Suns has significantly impacted the Western Conference landscape. The Suns were already a strong team, and Durant's addition has made them even more dangerous. This has led to a reshuffling of the balance of power in the West, with the Suns now considered one of the top contenders for the conference title.
Legacy of Kevin Durant in NBA Championships
Records of Kevin Durant
| Year | Records |
|---|---|
| 2007 | Consensus National Player of the Year |
| 2007 | Consensus first team All-American |
| 2007 | Adolph Rupp Trophy (First Freshman) |
| 2007 | John R. Wooden Award |
| 2007 | National Association of Basketball Coaches Player of the Year |
| 2007 | AP Player of the Year |
| 2007 | Naismith Men's College Player of the Year |
| 2008 | Youngest to Receive NBA Scoring Title |
| 2010 | Youngest player in NBA to Join 50–40–90 |
NBA Achievements of Kevin Durant
| AWARDS | YEAR | TEAMS |
|---|---|---|
| NBA Champion | 2017, 2018 | GSW |
| NBA MVP | 2014 | OKC ( FORMALLY SSS ) |
| NBA ALL-STAR | 2010-2019,2021,2022 | OKC, GSW, AND NETS |
| NBA ALL-STAR MVP | 2012,2019 | OKC AND GSW |
| 6 Times All-NBA First Team | 2010-2014,2018 | OKC AND GSW |
| 4 Times All-NBA Second Team | 2016,2017,2019,2022 | OKC, GSW, AND NETS |
| NBA Rookie of the year | 2008 | OKC ( FORMALLY SSS ) |
| NBA All-Rookie First Team | 2008 | OKC |
| 4xNBA Scoring Champion | 2010-2012,2014 | OKC |
| 3× Olympic Gold Medallist | 2012,2016,2020 | USA |
| NBA anniversary team | 75TH |
