Kevin Durant and Keldon Johnson are currently Team USA basketball teammates. The Nets superstar has spoken highly of Keldon in the past.
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Keldon Johnson is making a name for himself after a rather quiet couple of seasons in the NBA. This young man has emerged as one of the Spurs’ young stars capable of making their mark on the league.
Johnson impressed the USA Basketball program so much that he was sent to the Team USA Select camp as a rookie last year. He’s made the progression to the full roster this year following Bradley Beal’s Covid-enforced withdrawal.
The young Spurs guard lit up the Spanish national team in Team USA’s final exhibition game before the Olympics. Keldon went 7-of-9 from the field and displayed his full scoring arsenal to an overjoyed American public.
Johnson was a +18 in the 15 minutes that he saw the floor. He ignited a 3rd quarter run by Team USA that helped them create an unassailable lead. Johnson went 7-of-9 from the field and staked his claim for solid minutes at Tokyo with his performance.
When Kevin Durant hyped up Keldon Johnson as a high school senior
There was a time when Kevin Durant tried to provide basketball fans with regular basketball content on YouTube. That attempt flamed out and the Warriors star has renamed his channel to Boardroom since then.
But OG fans remember when he did a video on some of USA’s best high school basketball prospects. This video featured the likes of LaMelo Ball, Zion Williamson and Cam Reddish. One other name to come up at the end of that video was Keldon Johnson.
KD seemed to like Johnson’s style of play and arsenal even back then. This is the short review he put out for the then-17-year-old in his video:
“I’d a chance to go watch him play at the Peach Jam, so I’ve seen him up close. When you talk about ‘scorer’, this guy’s it. Yeah, athletic, nice with the right hand, it’s hard to stop him going right.”
“He shoots the J (jumper) too, nice. I think the next step for him is just figuring out how to play at each level you go to, figuring out the team game. Cuz he’s got everything you need one-on-one, that’s just my analysis.”
“But if you need to score, man, this guy’s who you need, and he can score points in bunches. Tends to shoot, driving to the rim, finishing under the basket, off the catch, yeah.”
“Can handle the ball out in the pick-and-roll. Once he figures out the pick-and-roll at that size, he can be NICE, even better than what he is now.”
