Kevin Wayne Durant (born September 29, 1988) is an American professional basketball player. Playing the position of small forward, Durant currently plays with the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association. Standing at 6'9" and playing the position of small forward, Durant was the consensus 2007 National College Player of the Year and the 2006–2007 Big 12 Player of the Year, amongst other awards. After a standout freshman season at the University of Texas,[2] Durant opted to enter the NBA Draft,[3] where he was selected second overall by the Seattle SuperSonics. There he went on to win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award after his debut season. In 2007, Durant signed an endorsement contract with Nike.[4] In the 2009–2010 NBA season, Durant led the NBA in scoring and became the youngest player ever to win the NBA scoring title.[5] He is a 3-time NBA scoring champion and a 3-time member of the All NBA First Team. Contents 1 ! Early life and high school career 2 Collegiate career 2.1 College statistics 3 National Basketball Association career 3.1 Rookie season 3.2 2008–09 season 3.3 2009–10 season 3.4 2010–11 season 3.5 2011–12 season 4 International career 5 Personal life 6 NBA career statistics 6.1 Regular season 6.1.1 Playoffs 7 Awards and honors 7.1 Other achievements 8 See also 9 References 10 External links Early life and high school career Kevin Durant was born Kevin Wayne Durant in Washington, D.C . on September 29, 1988, one of four children of Wanda and Wayne Pratt. Durant has one sister, Brianna, and two brothers, Tony, and Rayvonne. Durant was raised by his parents and his grandmother, Barbara Davis. During his childhood, Durant and Michael Beasley grew up together, and had a close friendship. The two remain friends to this day. A basketball player from his earliest days, Durant played for a successful Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) youth basketball team, the PG Jagu! ars, based in Prince George's County, Maryland. The Jaguars wo! n multiple national championships with Durant and fellow future blue chip recruits Michael Beasley of the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Chris Braswell from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Durant wore, and continues to wear, the number 35 jersey in honor of his childhood mentor and Amateur Athletic Union coach, Charles Craig, who was murdered at the age of 35.[6] Durant later moved on to play AAU basketball with fellow McDonald's All-American Ty Lawson of the Denver Nuggets, for the D.C. Blue Devils. After spending two years at National Christian Academy, and one year at Oak Hill Academy, Durant grew five inches and was 6'7" when he started at Montrose Christian School in Rockville, Maryland for his senior year, during which he grew two more inches.[7] At Montrose, Durant led the team in scoring and steals and was named the Washington Post All Met Basketball Player of the Year. During his time at Montrose, he played in The Les Schwab Invitational, a nationally d! rawing invitational basketball tournament in Oregon State. Durant also played with current New Orleans Hornets point guard Greivis Vasquez while at Montrose. Vetter described Durant as a hard working player, complete with size, and incredible skills in shooting, ball handling, defense, and even some post up moves.[8] Durant also was named a McDonald's All American and named co-MVP of the 2006 McDonald's All American game along with Chase Budinger. Behind Greg Oden, Durant was widely regarded as the second-best high school prospect.[9][10] Collegiate career Kevin Durant at the Frank Erwin Center in 2007, during his tenure with the University of Texas Longhorns collegiate basketball team. A 6'9" swingman with a 7'5" wingspan,[11] Durant was one of four freshman starters for the University of Texas basketball team. Durant started in all 35 games of the season, which culminated with a loss in the second round of the NCAA tournament to the University of Southern California. Texa! s finished third in the conference with a 12–4 record and was the run! ner-up in the 2007 Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament.[12] Although he had a slender frame, Durant frequently used it to his advantage by posting up bigger players, while shooting over smaller guards.[13] ESPN analyst Dick Vitale praised Durant as the "most prolific offensive skilled big perimeter" ever and proceeded to compare Durant's game to those of current NBA stars like Kevin Garnett and Dirk Nowitzki.[14] After a 37-point, 23-rebound winning performance against the Texas Tech Red Raiders, head coach Bob Knight described Durant as quick, fast and mobile, and being "really good".[15] Texas coach Rick Barnes admitted to rarely calling set plays for Durant, instead relying on Durant himself and on his teammates to find him within the flow of the offense.[16] Coming into the season, Durant was widely hailed by the media as the Big 12's top freshman and a top candidate to be named Freshman of the Year.[17] He averaged 25.8 points per game and 11.1 rebounds per game during ! his freshman season with the Texas Longhorns. In Big 12 games he averaged 28.9 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. His college career high for scoring was 37 points, which he achieved on four occasions. Durant had thirty 20-point games his freshman year, including 37 in a losing effort against Kansas for the regular-season Big 12 title. In March 2007, Durant was named the NABC Division I Player of the Year,[18] and received the Oscar Robertson Trophy[19] and the Adolph F. Rupp Trophy,[20] becoming the first freshman to win each of these awards. On March 30, 2007, he was selected as the Associated Press college player of the year, becoming the first freshman and the first Texas athlete to receive this award since its inception in 1961.[18][21] On April 1, 2007, he became the first freshman to receive the Naismith Award[22] and on April 7, 2007, won the John R. Wooden Award.[23] Less than a week after being drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics, the University of Texas announced ! the retirement of Durant's No.35 jersey. The number will now hang in th! e rafters at the Frank Erwin Center along with the No.11 of former Longhorn great T. J. Ford.[24] Durant's jersey is now one of nine retired by the University of Texas .[25] College statistics College Year GP GS MIN SPG BPG RPG APG PPG FG% FT% 3P% Texas 2006–07 35 35 35.9 1.9 1.9 11.1 1.3 25.8 .473 .816 .404 National Basketball Association career Rookie season Durant at the Seattle Super Sonics practice facility in January 2008. Durant declared himself eligible for the 2007 NBA Draft on April 11, 2007 and signed his first professional contract on May 25 with the Upper Deck Company, who later heralded Durant to be the focus of their 2007–08 NBA trading card line. On June 28, 2007, Durant was taken second overall in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics. It was expected that either he or Greg Oden, the starting center for Ohio State, were to go Number 1 in the draft. However, Oden was drafted first overall by the Portland Trail Blazers.[2] In the proceeding month,! Durant went on to sign a seven-year, $60 million endorsement deal with Nike—a rookie deal only surpassed by LeBron James' contract with Nike.[26] In doing so, Durant reportedly turned down a potential $70 million contract with Adidas, opting for Nike since he had worn them all his life. On October 31, 2007, Durant made his NBA debut with 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals[27] in a loss to the Denver Nuggets.[28] On November 16, 2007 Durant made the first game-winning shot of his NBA career with a key 3-pointer to beat the Atlanta Hawks in double overtime.[29] Durant finished with 21 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks.[30] On November 30, 2007, Durant scored 35 points to beat the Indiana Pacers.[31] In a game against the Denver Nuggets, he flirted with a triple double as he came up with 37 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists. In the last game of his rookie season, Durant finally recorded his first double-double of his career with a then career-h! igh 42 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, and also added 5 assists. ! In addition to leading all rookies in scoring for the season, he was named the NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month for November,[32][33] December[34] (2007), January,[35] March[36] and April[37] (2008).[38] Durant's 20.3 point per game season average broke the SuperSonics' 40-year-old rookie record set by Bob Rule during the 1967–68 season. On April 30, 2008, Associated Press reported that Durant was awarded the NBA Rookie of the Year Award for the 2007–08 season.[39] 2008–09 season Kevin Durant at the House of Hoops in The Bronx, New York. Following the 2007–08 season, the Seattle SuperSonics relocated from Seattle, Washington to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma as the Oklahoma City Thunder. Although Durant was not selected to play in the 2009 NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix, he did take part in two events. On February 13, 2009, Durant led the Sophomore team to a 122–116 victory over the Rookie side at the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam. He was crowned the ! MVP for the game after he set the scoring record with 46 points, breaking the old mark set in 2004 when Suns F-C Amar'e Stoudemire had 36 for the sophomores. The next day, Durant came from behind to win the first ever H-O-R-S-E Competition in NBA All-Star weekend history, beating out Joe Johnson from the Atlanta Hawks and O. J. Mayo from the Memphis Grizzlies after getting four quick letters early in the game. 2009–10 season Entering the season, the team was not expected to compete for a playoff berth; however, led by Durant, they finished the regular season with 50 wins and earned the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs. The 27-game improvement from the previous year was the sixth biggest turnaround in NBA history. Durant won the 2010 H-O-R-S-E contest to win his second in a row. He also made his f
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Kevin Durant Oklahoma City Thunder #35 - Forward. Born: 1988/09/29 Age: 23.! Height: 6-9 Weight: 230. Place of birth: Washington, DC Read the rest
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Kevin Durant 2012 player profile, game log, season stats, career stats, recent news If you play fantasy sports, get breaking news and immerse yourself in the ultimate Read the rest
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The Oklahoma City Thunder missed an opportunity to sweep the Denver Nuggets when they lost Monday evening in Game 4 104-101. OKC was actually down by 10 with under Read the rest
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Kevin Durant; Durant playing for the Thunder : No. 35 - Oklahoma City Thunder Shooting guard: Personal Information Date of birth: September 29, 1988 Read the rest
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The latest stats, facts, news and notes on Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder Read the rest
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Playoffs: Team: G: GS: MPG: FG% 3p% FT% OFF: DEF: RPG: APG: SPG: BPG: TO: PF: PPG: First Round: OKC: 4: 4: 41.5: 0.455: 0.346: 0.818: 0.3: 7.3: 7.5: 3.8: 1.0: 1.8: 3 Read the rest
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Kevin Durant Named a Starter on the 2012 Western Conference All-Star Team. KD was named a starter on the 2012 Western Conference All-Star team after receiving Read the rest
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Get the latest news, stats, videos, highlights and more about Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Kevin Durant on! ESPN.com. Read the rest
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Kevin Wayne Durant (born September 29, 1988) is an American professional basketball player. Playing the position of small forward, Durant currently plays with the Read the rest