Kevin Durant has been busting people up on the basketball court for a long time. Most basketball fans can remember his journey from those Oklahoma City Thunder teams with Russell Westbrook and James Harden, to his championship-winning time with the Golden State Warriors, all the way through his stint with the Brooklyn Nets and now the Phoenix Suns. Old heads will even recall his rookie season with the Seattle SuperSonics and his lone collegiate season at the University of Texas, but Lou Williams can take his memory of KD back even further.
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Williams spoke to Michelle Beadle on the Run It Back podcast about his first memory of Durant, and how it was clear even back in high school that he was destined for greatness.
“We played Oak Hill out in North Carolina and I remember Kevin Durant being the center on that team…Kevin Durant made the first three 3-pointers of the game.”
@TeamLou23s saw KD’s greatness up close and personal when they were in high school
https://t.co/f0UJuJd1mo pic.twitter.com/FExEW5Ad5N
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) January 10, 2025
The modern NBA may feature big men who can shoot it from outside, but 20 years ago, that kind of thing just didn’t happen. Durant is one of the original unicorns for his combination of size, skill, and shooting ability, and Williams got a first-hand look at it that day.
“I vividly remember walking back to the huddle, my coach called a timeout, and I thought, ‘Dang, that’s what this Oak Hill s*** is about,’ because your center was shooting three-pointers and making them, and that was my first experience of seeing Kevin Durant play basketball … He was already the Slim Reaper.”
KD may have impressed Lou Williams that day, but Williams and his team had the last laugh
Williams made sure to note that although he played on a regular public school team, his South Gwinnett Comets won the game over Durant and his more celebrated private school. Oak Hill has produced dozens of NBA players, including Carmelo Anthony, Jerry Stackhouse, Rajon Rondo, and Durant’s high school teammate Ty Lawson, and this was the only game they’d lose all year on their way to a 32-1 record and the number one national ranking.
Durant cooled off after his hot start, finishing with 14 points in the 82-68 loss, while Williams went off for 33 points of his own in the win.
Williams has been impressed with Durant throughout his long career, and he came out in October and said on The Big Podcast With Shaq that KD deserves inclusion in the GOAT discussion.
“Kevin Durant is a transcendent talent, bro. We’ve never seen anybody like KD.”
Williams isn’t the only one to think so, as Anthony Edwards and others have come out in support of Durant being right up there with Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant.
