Wiki and Biography : Kevin Durant – American basketball player

Kevin Durant is a professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association (NBA) taking the position of small forward. He has received multiple awards and recognition including Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year among others. He was the second overall pick of Seattle SuperSonics in the 2007 NBA draft. He used to be a part of the Oklahoma City Thunders from 2007 to 2016 before moving to the Golden State Warriors where he won his first championship game in the 71st NBA season.

He is an endorser for famous sports brands like Foot Locker and Nike. In 2012, he also played as himself in the movie Thunderstruck. His character in the movie slowly lost his ability to score in a game after signing a special edition OKC Thunder basketball that belonged to the protagonist, Brian. Aside from those, Kevin’s other off-court work include leading the All-Star jersey sales and some philanthropic acts. Overall, Kevin is considered one of the highest-earning basketball players in the world.

Early Life of Kevin

Kevin Wayne Durant was born on September 29, 1988, in Washington D.C. He grew up on the outskirts of Washington D.C., particularly Prince George’s County in Maryland.

Even at a young age, Kevin was remarkably tall. His height in middle school was already 6ft or 1.83 meters. He studied at National Christian Academy where he played for their basketball team for two years before transferring to Oak Hill Academy where he played for a year. During his senior year, he joined Montrose Christian School. Throughout that season, he gained a total of seven inches and was 6ft 7 inches tall. Before starting his last high school basketball season, Kevin was already signed for the University of Texas.

He ended the season as the Washington Post All-Met Basketball Player of the Year and Most Valuable Player of the 2006 McDonald’s All-American Game.

Family of Kevin

Kevin was born to Wanda Durant and Wayne Pratt. But, most of his younger years, only his mother and grandmother, Barbara Davis, raised him after his father left. Wayne abandoned them even before Kevin turned one year old. During this time, his father was only 23 years of age. His father worked in the Library of Congress while his mother worked for the postal service. His parents, later on, ended up with an official divorce.

By the time he was 13 years of age, Kevin’s father, Wayne, came back to his life. Although not easy at first, he did not stop trying to patch the relationship between him, his children, and his ex-wife, Kevin’s mother. It took ten years before Kevin and Wayne have completely made amends. Wayne can then be seen going with Kevin in basketball tournaments.

The siblings of Kevin are Brianna, Rayvonne, and the brother he spent most of his time growing up with, Tony. His older brother also played for college basketball in Towson. In one of Kevin’s acceptance speeches, he said, “you taught me to feel confident in myself, believe in myself; that I could do it when I didn’t think I could do it.” Kevin and all of his siblings opted to use their grandfather’s family name “Durant” instead of their father’s family name, “Pratt.”

Relationships of Kevin

Kevin Durant was always rumored to be in a relationship with someone but he has only confirmed two of them. One was with Monica Wright and the other, with Jasmine Shine.

Monica Wright

The couple started dating in January 2013. They dated for about six months before he proposed to her on July 07, 2013. When asked in an interview why he proposed, Kevin answered “I felt the energy. I felt, I need to do this right now. And I just did it.” However, they broke off their engagement, and their relationship in general, a year later. He explained that “I had a fiancée, but…I really didn’t know how to, like, love her, you know what I’m saying? We just went our separate ways.”

Jasmine Shine

Kevin then met Jasmine Shine and they got together in September 2014. She maintains her private life despite the fame of Kevin and prefers to stay out of the light. It is said that their relationship has been on and off since they started dating.

Basketball Career

He first made a name for himself during the 2006-2007 basketball season. Kevin was still in college during this time and caught the attention of the University of Texas. He ended up playing for them for a year before he decided to transfer to Seattle SuperSonic after college.

He was only 19 years old when he first played as a professional. His first game-winning shot was on November 16 when his team played against the Atlanta Hawks. When the SuperSonics settled in Oklahoma, they were then given the name Oklahoma City Thunders.

He was first drafted for the NBA All-Stars during the 2009-2010 season. He averaged 30.1 points per game setting records as of the youngest scoring NBA champions. The following year, he extended his contract with OKC. Kevin and the team continued to thrive in the next seasons. In fact, in the 2011-2012 playoffs, he led his team to the Western Conference Finals but fell short with the offense and defense of Dallas Mavericks.

In the 2013-2014 season, he was awarded the Most Valuable Player award after earning a career-high 54 points. His team reached the conference finals before they were defeated for the second time.

The next season (2014-2015) was a season full of injuries for him. He was first diagnosed with Jones Fracture before getting his ankle injured, sprained his left big toe, pain, and discomfort on his left. He didn’t play for the rest of the season starting on March 27 when he had to undergo a surgery for his ailing foot. Kevin’s last season with OKC was in 2015-2016.

He joined the Golden State Warriors on July 7, 2016, when he officially signed his $54-million contract.  He played for the first time as a Warrior on October 25, 2016. He played alongside Stephen Curry and shares the title Co-Western Conference Player of the Month. His performance has helped the Golden State Warriors in winning the NBA Season Champion title. After the season, he decided to become a free agent with desires to still play for GSW in the incoming 2017-2018 NBA Season.

Kevin also played for the 2012 Olympics where he and the US National team won the gold medal. As of 2017, he is starting to explore the wonders of the video streaming site YouTube. He is slowly uploading video blogs or simply vlogs to it.

Net Worth

Kevin owns multiple properties in Oklahoma, including KD’s Southern Cuisine. He once had a Club Villa house that he sold in 2013 as well. His total net worth from his businesses, assets, and salary reaches the amount of $26 million.