Kevin Wayne Durant (born September 29, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A 6'9" small forward/shooting guard who is also capable of playing power 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,[2] 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.[3] In the 2009–10 season Durant led the NBA in scoring and became the youngest player ever to win the NBA scoring title.[4] He would later be named to the 2010 All NBA First Team.
A 6'9" swingman with a 7'5" wingspan,[10] 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. Texas finished third in the conference with a 12–4 record and was the runner-up in the 2007 Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament.Although he had a slender frame, Durant frequently used it to his advantage by posting up bigger players, while shooting over smaller guards.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.[16] He averaged 25.8 points per game and 11.1 rebounds per game during his freshman season with the Texas Longhorns.
Following the 2007–08 season, the SuperSonics relocated to 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.
Durant won the 2010 H-O-R-S-E contest to win his second in a row. He also made his first All-Star Game appearance, and coached the rookies at the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and Youth Jam. He became the youngest in league history to win the scoring title at 21, averaging 30.1 points per game, beating out LeBron James. Durant also set the modern record for most games in a row with at least 25 points, breaking Allen Iverson's old record.
On April 18, 2010, Durant made his playoff debut with 24 points in a 79–87 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. He scored 32 in a 95–92 loss in game 2, but responded with 29 points and 19 rebounds in a 101–96 win at Oklahoma City. He then went on to put up 22 points in the game four win against the defending champs. In game 5, Durant chipped in 17 points as his team lost, 111–87. Game 6 ended the season for the Thunder as Pau Gasol tipped the ball in for a buzzer-beating basket. The Los Angeles Lakers went on to round 2 of the playoffs as they won 95–94. Durant scored 26 points in his last game of the season.
On July 7, 2010, Durant announced on his Twitter page that he signed a 5-year contract extension with the Thunder.[40] The extension is worth about $86 million
Durant was finally able to represent the USA at 2010 FIBA World Championship and turned out to be the go-to-guy since other stars were unavailable for various reasons. Before the tournament, he downplayed this notion saying "he was another guy on the team."[45] Eventually, he led Team USA to its first FIBA World Championship since 1994 and was named MVP of the Tournament.[46] Along the way, Durant broke several Team USA scoring records including most points in a tournament (205) and most points in a single game (38). He averaged 22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.4 steals in nine games.
He has expressed interest in playing for the 2012 Olympics.
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