Oklahoma City played a simplistic brand of basketball, surrounding Durant and Russell Westbrook with defensive-minded role players like Andre Roberson and counting on their two stars to carry them on offense. Durant had stopped growing by the end of his time with the Thunder. Golden State offered him the chance to get a master’s degree in basketball, in the same way Miami did for LeBron James. The goal was more than just winning championships.
He’s become the ultimate basketball player.ĭurant made his biggest leap when he signed with the Warriors. He can create his own shot off the dribble and in the post, finish in traffic, run pick-and-rolls, shoot off movement from anywhere on the floor, move the ball and set up his teammates, rebound, protect the rim, and defend all five positions on the floor. He can do everything on a basketball court at a high level. Durant now combines the size of the NBA’s greatest big men with the all-around game of its best guards. He went from starting at shooting guard as a rookie to winning an NBA Finals MVP as a small-ball center, having tacked on at least 30 pounds of muscle to a once painfully skinny frame. The stunning thing about following Durant at the next level is just how much better he has gotten.ĭurant has turned himself into a hybrid of every great player who came before him. It was obvious that he would go on to great things in the NBA. We all knew that we were lucky to have a player like him for a season. Texas lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament in Durant’s one season in Austin, but it couldn’t change his legacy. Durant, Anthony Davis, and now Zion are the only freshmen in the one-and-done era to win the Naismith Award. He was part of the first class of high school seniors who couldn’t jump directly to the NBA, and he set a standard few of the players who have followed him could meet. That’s the baddest man to play here,’ and that’s Danny saying that, who had many big games here.”ĭurant should have never been in college in the first place. “Even Danny Manning was on the bench saying, ‘That’s a bad man. “He may be arguably the best player to play in Allen Fieldhouse in generations,” Kansas head coach Bill Self told the school newspaper in an oral history of the game. The Big List of NBA Awards Picks The Other NBA Awards Who knows how many he would have scored had he not been hurt? 50? 60? The Jayhawks fans gave him a standing ovation when he came back in. Durant was forced out of the game for a stretch early in the second half with a sprained ankle, which only added to the legend. He had 25 points in the first half, the most any player had scored in a half there since Wilt Chamberlain. There was no wasted motion: His shots weren’t touching the rim. He was as locked-in as he had been all season. Durant seemed to relish the chance to play in one of the cathedrals of basketball. The court is named for James Naismith, who coached at Kansas a few years after inventing the sport. The most legendary game of his Texas career came in early March at Allen Fieldhouse in Kansas. 1 ranked team in the country a few years later. There was a buzz around the Texas basketball program that hasn’t been there since, even when they were the no. It was obvious that something special was happening. The crowds started picking up after the turn of the New Year. There was nothing that NCAA defenders could do to stop him. Durant was a near 7-footer with the athleticism, ballhandling, and shooting ability of a guard. The basic outlines of the player he is today were already in place. His talent couldn’t stay hidden for long. It was the last time in his life when Durant could be a relatively normal guy. It was like watching the Beatles learn to play together in half-empty bars in Germany, years before they blew up back in England. You could buy a ticket for $5, walk into the nearly empty lower bowl of the stadium, and sit a few rows behind Durant on the Texas bench. There weren’t many fans coming to nonconference games against teams like Chicago State and Nicholls State in November and December. I had to talk friends into taking the 15-minute walk off campus to the cavernous Frank Erwin Center. The big debate on campus was whether Colt McCoy could replace Vince Young.
The Longhorns had just won the BCS championship. Few people in Austin cared enough about basketball to learn about the incoming recruits. Durant wasn’t anywhere near as famous when he arrived on campus as Zion Williamson would be in Durham 12 years later. Social media was just getting started: Facebook was still limited to college students Twitter had barely launched Instagram didn’t exist. I was one year ahead of Kevin Durant at the University of Texas when he arrived in Austin in 2006.