Kevin Durant has had a phenomenal career since he began his basketball journey in high school. Kevin’s talent, skill, and determination have allowed him to push further and further up the ranks, much to the love of his fans.
When we break down the facts of this legend’s life, it won’t be hard to see why the nation loves him so much!
A Basketball Prodigy
Durant has become one of the best basketball players to emerge from the Washington D.C scene. He started his career early and made a name for himself when he was only in high school. By senior year, he was a wanted All-American!
Headhunted for the skills he was already showing, Durant was accepted with open arms into the University of Texas. Our champion proved to his teammates that he was worth his salt, and they could see it. As a freshman, Durant was one of the best players in the Big 12 Conference.
Durant managed to create a 25.8 ppg average! This feat was so impressive that he was added to the first-team’s All American and became the first freshmen ever to earn a College Player of the Year award.
After just one year of playing college basketball, Kevin Durant was added to the Seattle Super Sonics team.
Rookie Years With Seattle
The transition from College Basketball to NBA started after one year of showcasing himself. Durant was picked second overall in the NBA drafts of 2007, and became the powerhouse behind the Seattle Super Sonics.
The team at the time was going through a rough patch. The new owners wanted the city of Seattle to pay for a publicly funded arena, but the government officials denied their request. To make them change their minds, the owners stopped the team from playing and told the world they would move to another city.
The fans were disheartened, and they soon started to drop like flies. If it wasn’t for the bright star of Kevin Durant, the team might have folded. He was averaging 20.3 points per game during this season which made him the obvious pick for the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award.
Although Durant was doing all he could for the team, the background politics between the teams owners and Seattle’s financial chair couldn’t be mended.
By the end of the season, the Super Sonics moved to a new state and took on a new name.
A Boom Of Thunder With Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is where the team landed, and they changed their name to Thunder. To some, this move would have rattled their psyche, but Durant played as though the politics of his team were nothing more than children talking.
Now in his second season with the NBA, all of Durant’s stats were increasing. He even started a streak of 5 All-Star Game appearances in a row. He was doing so well that Durant led his team to Thunder’s first playoff and pushed them all the way to the finals!
Unfortunately, they lost to the Miami Heat, but to make it this far was outstanding. The NBA finals odds were completely unsure of how the game would play out.
Stats And Awards
Of course, so much more has happened since the days of the Seattle SuperSonics, but Durant’s Legendary name can be shown through his numbers.
Kevin was always difficult to defend against as team after team failed in their match-up expectations. Durant easily passed a shot over other players’ heads or simply ran past them as his opponents tried and failed to block his path.
In 2014, Durant achieved his first Most Valuable Player awards after scoring 32 points per game and creating 5.5 assists per game too.
When Durant became a free agent and moved to the Golden State Warriors, his triumphs were even greater as he helped the team earn the title of most wins ever in the league.
