Kevin Durant was one of the most hyped basketball prospects to ever enter the NBA. Kevin played college ball at the University of Texas and was already predicted to go No. 1 or 2 overall by the end of his first year. Durant would go on to declare for the draft after just one year in college, going second overall. The 7-footer would cause a lot of drama and financial loss to NBA teams that were chasing after the prodigious talent. Even Michael Jordan was fined $15000 by the NBA as MJ talked about wanting to draft Kevin Durant, during an interview with the Charlotte Observer.
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But MJ wasn’t the only victim of the KD recruitment saga. Danny Ainge, who at the time was the general manager of the Boston Celtics, was fined $30,000 for sitting next to Wanda Durant at the Big 12 tournament in 2007. The league accused Ainge of tampering, as Kevin was yet to declare for the draft.
MJ believed KD was the solution to the Bobcats in 2007
MJ recently made headlines when he sold the Charlotte Hornets for a whopping 3 billion dollars. Unknown to many, Jordan was a minority owner of Charlotte’s previous franchise, The Charlotte Bobcats. The Bobcats were struggling in the 2007 season, and Michael sat down with the Charlotte Observer to talk about the team. During the interview, MJ talked about Kevin Durant, telling the interviewer,
” The kid who may present that is the kid in Texas (Kevin Durant). He may have that because he has all the right signs. ”
The NBA has strict rules against tampering and Jordan was slapped with a $15,000 fine for it, which was later confirmed by a Bobcats spokesperson. According to the anti-tampering rules of the NBA, underclassmen who have yet to declare for the draft cannot have any contact with players and representatives of NBA teams.
The Bobcats would later pick Brandan Wright in the 2007 draft but would later trade away to the Golden State Warriors for Jason Richardson. The Bobcats also got Jarred Dudley (22nd pick) and Jermareo Davidson (warriors second-round pick) from the same draft.
Kevin Durant, possibly one of the greatest Sonics player
Kevin Durant would match all the hype and even exceed it during his tenure in Seattle. The Slim Reaper won Rookie Of the Year in his first year. Even though KD played exceptionally well, the Sonics team was a shadow of its glory days as the team finished with a record of 20–62.
Kevin would go on to only play 80 games for the franchise, averaging 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists. The Sonics would eventually be shut down, as the franchise would open shop in Oklahoma under a new banner, The Oklahoma City Thunder. A team with whom the name Kevin Durant is synonymous with.
