Kevin Durant

  Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant came to play in the NBA in 2007, and since his first days as a SuperSonic, he was a tremendous scorer. It was nothing new for those who followed him, as Kevin was known to be an elite scorer from the college days. He averaged 25,8 PPG, 11,1 RPG on 47% FG% while playing for Texas as a freshman. Based on these numbers, everybody expected him to be future Hall of Famer and a perennial All Star for years to come. He got drafted with Seattle’s number 2 overall pick in 2007. The player who got drafted in front of him was Greg Oden, who is considered one of the biggest busts of all-time. In his first season with the Sonics, he played at the shooting guard position and he averaged 20,3 PPG and 4,4 RPG, as he won the Rookie of the Year Award by a mile. Despite of his huge talent, age played a factor for two seasons for him and the organization. They didn’t manage to qualify in the playoffs until the 2009-10 season. Russell Westbrook was there also, being drafted as well in 2008, a year later. In that same year, the franchise chose to leave Seattle, moving to Oklahoma City instead, due to some financial problems. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were about to form a historic duo, given their potential. Because of Westbrook’s explosiveness and athleticism combined with Durant’s scoring efficiency, many thought that would be the key to success in the future for them. After their first playoff appearance in 2010, when they got eliminated by the eventual champions, the Los Angeles Lakers, in the first round in six games, Durant and the company began to roll in the West, as they were constantly in the top-four of the West, while he was the Scoring Champion for three seasons in a row, four total, with averages like 30,1 PPG, 27,7, 28 and 32. Being a scoring champion is one thing, but being a 2,06m scoring machine is something that wasn’t seen in the history of the league. He reached his first NBA Finals in the 2011-12 season, but unfortunately for him, OKC Thunder lost to the almighty Heat in six games. In the next year, Memphis Grizzlies upset them in the second round of the playoffs, with a shocking 4-1 general score. In 2014 they got to the Western Conference Finals one more time, but this time the Spurs got the revenge for the loss in the 2012 Conference Finals. Sadly for the Thunder organization, Durant suffered a foot injury and was out for the season. This played a huge part in the team’s failure that year, as they couldn’t make it to the playoffs for the first time in a while, finishing on the 9^th place. Coming into the next season, Kevin was more motivated than ever, and this could be seen in his game. The Thunder got to the Conference Finals once again, this time facing the Warriors. They had a 3-1 advantage in the series, but somehow they lost it and right in that off-season, he chose to leave his team and join nobody else but the ones who beat him in the playoffs… Golden State. It was a shocking decision for the entire NBA, and many began to blame him for that, including Russell Westbrook, who was mad at him for quite some time. However, he went on with his career and won two NBA Championships, being the Finals MVP for each one of them.