Kevin Durant is a future first-ballot Hall of Famer and has won everything he could during his glorious NBA career. However, the Phoenix Suns star has one painful memory from his time with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and it’s not blowing a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference Finals. Durant sat down for an NBA Trivia quiz about his career and was asked how many NBA scoring titles has he won. He responded,
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“Four. But it should have been five. Melo (Carmelo Anthony) took one!”
During the 2012-13 NBA season, Carmelo Anthony and Durant were locked in a tight race to win the scoring title. Durant was the three-time reigning scoring champion and was looking to emulate Michael Jordan in winning the scoring crown four straight times. Anthony was chasing his first career scoring title and the first individual award of his NBA career.
Heading into April, the final month of the regular season, Durant had the lead. He had played all 74 regular season games and averaged 28.3 points per game. Anthony had played 59 games and was averaging 27.54 points. The then-New York Knicks superstar needed a massive month to win the title. And he did just that.
In April 2013, Anthony played eight games and averaged 36.8 points. His sensational performances, which included one 50-point game, two 40-point games, and three 35-point games, elevated his season average to 28.7. Durant needed to perform slightly better than his season average to retain his title.
However, the then-OKC superstar had a quiet month by his standards, averaging 26.1 points per game in seven games. An underwhelming 21-point performance against the Utah Jazz and a 16-point outing against the Portland Trail Blazers in a blowout win saw Durant’s season average plummet.
In the last game of the regular season, the Knicks were scheduled to face the Atlanta Hawks at Madison Square Garden. However, Anthony sat the game out to ensure he finished the season with 28.7 points per game. Durant and OKC also played at home, taking on the Milwaukee Bucks.
Durant needed 77 points in that game to win the scoring title. But with OKC already in the playoffs, he skipped this inconsequential game and conceded the scoring title with a post on Instagram.
Durant played 81 games and averaged 28.1 points. He lost the scoring title to Anthony, who averaged 28.7 points in 67 games. The Knicks superstar won the award despite the OKC icon playing 14 more matches. He had met the minimum threshold of playing 70% of games to qualify for the scoring title. Durant’s availability took away his shot at a historic fourth straight scoring title, and he has every right to feel wronged.
Kevin Durant’s incredible memory
Kevin Durant breezed through the NBA Trivia quiz about his career. He was asked what team he played against in his first NBA game, and he confidently answered, “The Denver Nuggets.” He was then asked how many he finished with in his debut, and he answered correctly again.
He answered the following two questions correctly, but the last one stumped the Suns forward. He was asked, “What teammate have you assisted to most in your career?” The question stumped Durant for a few seconds before he guessed Serge Ibaka. The interviewer asked this question expecting Durant to have trouble remembering because the duo last played together in 2016. But the Suns’ superstar got it right, much to the dismay of the interviewer.
Durant’s memory of his career is impeccable. A fan once shared an image of him and Kobe Bryant from a game at the Staples Center.
Durant recalled the exact play the photo was from. Incredible display of his memory from the former NBA MVP.
