Ahead of the 2007 NBA Draft, Kevin Durant was the most talked about prospect along with Greg Oden for all NBA teams. Having the ‘Slim Reaper’ in any team could have coupled their chances for title contention. However, as per an ESPN report, teams such as the Boston Celtics went a step ahead to try excessively contact the Durant family. When Danny Ainge tried getting cozy with the Durants, the league responded by slapping a $30,000 fine on the Celtics.
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That’s not just all. His Airness Michael Jordan and the Charlotte Hornets also faced a similar situation for discussing about Kevin Durant in an interview. All of these fiasco took place during the time when KD was participating in the 2007 Big 12 Basketball Championship.
#NBA Danny Ainge reflects on Kevin Durant chase that came up just short for … https://t.co/Od5zbeOHj4 pic.twitter.com/prpPQuwKQ4
— Nuggets Fan Zone (@NuggetsFZ) July 8, 2016
It’s understandable as to why so many GMs were salivating at the prospect of being able to draft Durant. In his one season at the University of Texas, Durant averaged 25.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists, all while having 47.3% field goal percentage and 81.6% free throw percentage.
The tournament featured KD’s Texas Longhorns and Kansas Jayhawks in the Finals, only for the Longhorns to be overwhelmed 88-84 in the game. As expected, Durant outshone everyone in the tournament right as a freshman in college. He became the tournament MVP, breaking the previous Big 12 tournament scoring record of 79 by Marcus Fizer with his 92 points.
Kevin Durant won the Rookie of the Year significantly edging past Greg Oden
Kevin Durant had quite a decent season starting off as a rookie for the erstwhile Seattle SuperSonics. As a 19-year-old teenager, KD scored 18 points, grabbed five rebounds, and had three steals in his first regular season game against the Denver Nuggets. Furthermore, he also made his first game-winning shot against the Atlanta Hawks during his rookie season.
Kevin Durant:
— 2x NBA Champ
— 2x Finals MVP
— 1x MVP
— 4x Scoring Champ
— 13x All-Star
— 10x All-NBA
— 2x ASG MVP
— 2008 ROTY
— 3x Olympic gold medalist
— NBA 75th Anniversary TeamTop __ player of all-time? pic.twitter.com/ONKeTVsL3u
— NBA World (@NBAW0RLD24) August 20, 2023
The Portland TrailBlazers #1 pick Greg Oden’s injury further propelled KD towards aiming for the Rookie of the Year award. Averaging 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game, Durant joined the likes of Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James to be the only teenagers in the annals of NBA to average 20 points throughout a season.
