Early Life

Kevin Wayne Durant was born September 29, 1988 in Washington, DC. Durant learned to play the game of basketball from his godfather Taras Brown. Brown was the basketball instructor at the Seat Pleasant Activities Center, where Durant spent almost everyday of his childhood playing basketball. If he wasn't at school, Kevin was with Brown working on his basketball skills.

High School

Kevin Durant played basketball at National Christian Academy in Maryland his freshman and sophomore years of high school. He then transferred to the prestigious Oak Hill Academy of Virginia for his junior season where he averaged 19.6 points per game and 8.8 rebounds per game. Durant's senior year he starred at Montrose Christian School in Rockville, Maryland. He led Montrose to a 20-2 record, including a victory over top-ranked Oak Hill Academy in which he scored 31 points. Durant averaged 23.6 points per game and 10.2 rebounds per game at Montrose and was named First Team All-American by USA Today and Parade Magazine. He was also named co-MVP of the McDonald's All-American game after scoring 25 points for the West team.

College

Kevin Durant was one of four freshman starters for the University of Texas Longhorns. Durant quickly became a match up nightmare for other teams because of his tall, long frame (6'9" tall, 7'4" wingspan) and ability to shoot from long range and ability to handle the ball. He scored 37 points on four different occasions and had 20 30-point games. ESPN analyst Dick Vitale called him the "most prolific offensive skilled big perimeter" ever. After Durant scored 37 points and grabbed 23 rebounds against Texas Tech, Bob Knight called Durant quick, fast, mobile, and "really good." In Big 12 games he averaged 28.9 points per game and 12.5 rebounds per game, both Big 12 single-season records for league games only. Kevin Durant finished the season with averages of 25.8 points per game and 11.1 rebounds per game. He was a consensus 1st Team All-American. Durant won the Adolph Rupp Trophy, the Oscar Robinson Trophy, Associated Press Player of the Year, the Naismith Award and the Wooden Award. He was the first-ever freshman in NCAA history to win any of those awards. Kevin Durant may have been the greatest freshman in the history of collegiate basketball. His number 35 has since been retired by the University of Texas.

NBA

2007-08 Season

Kevin Durant declared for the 2007 NBA Draft after his historic freshman year at Texas. He was selected second overall by the Seattle Supersonics (Greg Oden was selected 1st overall by the Portland Trailblazers). The following month, Durant signed a seven-year, $60 million contract with Nike - a rookie deal only surpassed by Lebron James's. At the age of 19, Durant made his rookie debut on October 31, 2007 against the Denver Nuggets with 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals. From the start of the season, Durant was the centerpiece of the Supersonics' offense. He made his first game-winning shot November 16, 2007 on the road against the Atlanta Hawks in double-overtime. He was selected to play in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge, where he tallied 23 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists in a loss to the Sophomore team. He scored a career-high 42 points on April, 4 2008, becoming the youngest player to score that many points in NBA history at the age of 19 years and 200 days. Durant was named NBA Rookie of the Month five times. He finished the year leading his team and all rookies with 20.3 points per game. He is the third teenager in NBA history to average more than 20 points a game (the other two were Lebron James and Carmelo Anthony). Durant was awarded the NBA Rookie of the Year award for the 2007-08 season.

2008-09 Season

The Seattle Supersonics relocated their franchise to Oklahoma City in the Summer of 2008 and become the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder's team colors changed to blue and orange. Kevin Durant got off to a good start in 2008-09 and did not look back. After a 1-12 start, the Thunder fired head coach P.J. Carlesimo and replaced him with Scott Brooks. Brooks eventually moved Durant from shooting guard to small forward, his natural position. After this move, their was a significant increase in Durant's statistical output in almost every category. Despite averaging 25.5 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game going into All-Star Weekend, Durant was not chosen to play in the 2009 NBA All-Star Game. He did compete in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge where he set the scoring record with 46 points (the previous record was 36 points). The Sophomore team won 122-116 and Durant was named MVP. Durant also won the first ever H-O-R-S-E competition in All-Star history, beating Joe Johnson and O.J. Mayo. Durant put up some superstar numbers in the months of January and February. In January, he averaged 27.8 points per game and 8.8 rebounds per game. In February, Durant averaged 30.6 points per game, while shooting 53.8% from the field and 51.4% from 3-point range. Durant finished sixth in the league in scoring with 25.3 points per game. He also shot 47.6% from the field and 42.2% from 3-point range, and he grabbed 6.5 rebounds per game.

Personal Life

Kevin Durant is the son of Wanda and Wayne Pratt. He has one sister, Brianna, and two brothers Tony and Rayvonne. Tony Durant played college basketball for the Towson University Tigers. Kevin wears number 35 in honor of his former AAU coach Charles Craig, who was 35 years old when he was murdered in 2005. Even though he left school for the NBA after one year, Durant chose to continue to work towards his college degree. He has taken summer classes at the University of Texas each NBA off-season in order to obtain his goal of a college education. Durant was chosen to be on the cover of the 2008 EA Sports video game March Madness. On February 25, 2009, Nike unveiled Durant's own signature shoe called the KD1.