“Got on the Plane Confused”: Kevin Durant’s ‘Welcome to the NBA’ Moment Was Brutally Handed to Him By $160,000,000 Worth Former Star in 2007

Back in 2019, Kevin Durant made an appearance on Quentin Richardson & Darius Miles’ Knuckleheads podcast. During the 80-minute episode, the panel spoke about a bunch of topics. Early in the episode, Miles asked Durant to recollect his “Welcome to the NBA” moment. Not having the need to give it much thought, KD pinpointed to his first-ever professional game against Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets back in 2007.

Kevin Durant, representing the Seattle SuperSonics, was scheduled to play their season opener against the Nuggets. Despite struggling from 3-point range, Durant finished his debut with a respectable stat line – 18 points, five rebounds, and three steals. However, Carmelo Anthony had a far better night, even handing the rookie his “Welcome to the NBA” moment. The $160,000,000 worth former NBA superstar used his physicality and erupted for a 32-point performance as the Nuggets grabbed a 120-103 victory.

Kevin Durant revealed how Carmelo Anthony was the first NBA player to “bust his a**”

Darius Miles asked Kevin Durant to reveal the name of the player who first “bust his a**” in the NBA. Immediately, the Slim Reaper revealed how he was matched up against Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson in his first-ever contest. Additionally, playing in Denver, the Colorado altitude was something that the then-rookie was not accustomed to.

“My first game was against Melo [Carmelo Anthony] and AI [Allen Iverson]. But I had to guard Melo. I was 19, he was probably what? 24, 23? I never played in that Denver altitude, I didn’t really know too much about it.”

Durant detailed the harrowing experiences of guarding an extremely physical Melo. Using a variety of offensive moves in his arsenal, Anthony recorded 32 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. KD couldn’t decipher the forward’s game even after getting on the plane the same night.

“Melo was just physical. He would duck you in the paint, hit you with the shoulder, and then he’ll take you out… Jab, jab, pull-over top of you. He would just have you thinking too much on D. I got on the plane confused.”

Today, KD and Melo are two of the greatest offensive maestros the game has ever seen. Having incredibly deep offensive bags, both have shown the ability to go on a scoring rampage on a nightly basis.

While the Durantula still has a great shot at entering the top 10 all-time scorers list, Melo retired with a grand total of 28,289 points (9^th on the all-time scorers list).

Durant and Melo represented their country together

Despite Carmelo Anthony humiliating him in 2007, Kevin Durant went on to share a great bond with the 6ft 7″ superstar. Apart from playing a few All-Star Games as teammates, the two generational talents even shared the locker room while representing Team USA.

KD and Melo were crucial in Team USA’s gold medal win at the 2012 & 2016 Olympics, in London and Brazil, respectively. The prolific scorers were the top two points scorers in both the editions of the Olympics. The former Kentucky Longhorn recorded 19.5 points across both tournaments. Whereas, Anthony lodged 14.2 points.

Lastly, Durant dished out a hilarious tribute after Anthony announced his retirement. Apart from sharing an old photo with an iconic Melo comment, the two-time MVP also posted a few photos where the former seemed to have been fouling him.