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Kevin Durant (Phoenix Suns)

buckeyeboy

Still fortitudinous
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...7/03/30/bc.bkc.applayeroftheyea.ap/index.html


ATLANTA (AP) -- Kevin Durant of Texas was selected Friday as The Associated Press' college basketball player of the year, the first freshman to receive the honor.

The 6-foot-9 swingman finished fourth in the country in scoring (25.8) and rebounding (11.1) while leading the Longhorns to a 25-10 record, the Big 12 tournament championship game and the second round of the NCAA tournament.

...
 
ABJ

Kevin Durant works out for Blazers

ANNE M. PETERSON

Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. - Kevin Durant worked out with the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday, two days after Greg Oden, as both players show their talents to the team with the top draft pick.
Durant, a 6-foot-9 forward out of Texas, was The Associated Press Player of the Year this past season as a freshman.
"I feel good here," he said. "Like I belong here."
As with Oden, several dozen fans stood at the Blazers' practice facility south of Portland, hoping for an autograph. Local journalists came out in droves.
"That was as impressive a workout as any I've seen in here," Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard said.

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ABJ

Endorsements, success await Durant in NBA

Texas star is expected to be one of top picks in this year's draft

By Chip Brown

Dallas Morning News

DALLAS - At 18 years old and still too antenna-thin to bench-press 185 pounds, national player of the year Kevin Durant didn't even have a driver's license until two weeks ago.
In the world of product placement, however, those story lines can be developed.
The possibilities are endless.
Picture a commercial for Schwinn or Sprite featuring Durant riding a bike with a banana seat and handlebar tassels to an NBA game in his Portland Trail Blazers or Seattle SuperSonics uniform. He smiles and waves at his teammates as they look at him, puzzled, from their Mercedes.


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Yahoo.com

Durant has another poor shooting game


LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Kevin Durant showed again he isn't afraid to shoot as he starts his professional career with the Seattle Supersonics. The shots, however, continue to be off target.
The second pick in last month's draft was 4-for-19 from the field and scored 18 points Monday night in the Sonics' 87-74 loss to the New York Knicks in the NBA's Las Vegas summer league.
"I just wasn't in the game tonight," Durant said. "As the game went on, we got a little better, and that is the important thing."
On Friday night, the 6-foot-9 Durant was 5-for-17 from the field in a 77-66 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. The 215-pound forward struggled with New York's physical play Monday, finishing with one rebound and no assists in 34 minutes.

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Link

Durant scores 28 in summer league finale


Associated Press
July 16, 2007 at 8:24 AM EDT

LAS VEGAS ( ? Kevin Durant had the stage to himself. The second overall pick did not disappoint.
The Seattle swingman had several highlight-reel plays Sunday night to break out of an event-long shooting slump, but it wasn't enough as the SuperSonics finished winless in the summer league with an 84-78 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.
Durant had 28 points on 9-of-18 shooting in what was supposed to be a matchup of the two top picks from last month's draft. However, Portland centre Greg Oden left last Sunday after two games to have a tonsillectomy.
"It would have been fun to play against him," Durant said. "There would have been a lot more people here, I guess."

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Unless there is more to the story then what is being told, I really respect a move like this. It is crazy... but respectable.

Durant Turns Down $70M Offer From Adidas July 18, 2007 - 5:37 am
Durant_Kevin_sea.jpg
Seattle Times -
Sonics forward Kevin Durant scored the second-largest endorsement contract for an NBA rookie when he signed a seven-year, $60 million deal with Nike that included a $10 million signing bonus.

The Beaverton, Ore.-based shoe and apparel company and Durant's agent Aaron Goodwin confirmed the announcement Wednesday.

According to industry sources, Durant declined a seven-year, $70 million deal with Adidas that included a $12 million signing bonus largely because he has a long history with Nike dating to the eighth grade in Washington, D.C.

"At the end of the day, Kevin has been with Nike his whole career and he felt comfortable with them," Goodwin said. "He took the time to give Adidas the opportunity and they're a great company, but he chose the company that he's more familiar with. And we build brands on authenticity and it's more authentic for him to be somewhere where he wants to be and he's comfortable."

Durant's sneaker deal will include a signature shoe that will be unveiled after his rookie season.
Kevin Durant wants Nike to make his signature shoe more affordable. He wants to endorse shoes that kids from his background can afford to purchase.
Michael Jordan Is a Role Model, Not Sole Model: Scott Soshnick
By Scott Soshnick

June 29 (Bloomberg) -- Kevin Durant, all six feet nine inches of him, was surrounded. There was no way out, nowhere to hide. The queries came from all angles, rat-a-tat-tat.
Cameras to left of him, microphones to the right and Durant stuck in the middle.
Disconcerting? Heck no.
``I'm loving it,'' Durant told the assembled media horde earlier this week, before the Seattle SuperSonics last night made him the No. 2 pick in the National Basketball Association draft. ``All you guys looking at me like I'm Michael.''
Jordan, that is.
``I'm loving it, man,'' the 18-year-old Durant said, beaming.
With Durant spreading so much love this seems like a good time to issue a warning. So here it goes:
Nike, Adidas or whichever sneaker and apparel behemoth forks over tens of millions to secure Durant's services had better beware. You might not feel the love from this kid. You should know that he has memories of modest means. He has a conscience.
Durant remembers what it was like growing up as one of the have-nots. Money was tight. There were no expensive sneakers on his feet. Or in his closet. There was no Sony PlayStation in the living room, either.
``Growing up as a kid I couldn't afford the $120 shoes -- all the little gadgets I didn't have,'' Durant told me the other day. ``I guess now I can have them.''
There's career understatement No. 1.
Getting There
The really cool part of this tale isn't where Durant comes from. It's where he's going and what he intends to do when he gets there.
Durant does, indeed, wish to mimic the marketing might of Jordan, who helped make Nike's Swoosh as ubiquitous as the Golden Arches. Durant does not, however, want his signature shoe to become a status symbol with a price tag that induces sticker shock. He doesn't want one kid hurting another for leather and laces.
Hold on.
Is Durant actually saying that he intends to tell his future employer, whichever company it might be, that he'll demand a modest price point for any shoe that bears his name and likeness?
``Most definitely,'' said Durant, who is, according to the NBA's labor contract, guaranteed about $13 million over his first three seasons.
Paycheck No. 1
Ask Durant what he intends to do with his first NBA paycheck. If you guessed a high-end timepiece with a diamond bezel you would be wrong. A Maybach, perhaps? Wrong again.
``I'm going to buy my grandmother a new house,'' he says. ``She's been there for me since Day One, taking me under her wing.''
You know what: If Durant isn't careful, talk like that just might kill the image of NBA players as thugs, punks and creeps.
Predictably, more than half of the questions tossed at Durant the other day had to do with his draft position. Prior to last night, you see, there was some debate as to whether the Portland Trail Blazers would use the top pick on Durant or 7- foot center Greg Oden.
For the record, Durant said he didn't care. One or two.
Speaking of Oden, he's already part of the Nike family.
When asked about his shoe contract Oden, a likeable chap in his own right, didn't mention price points or mothers struggling with the bills. There were no recollections of hardship.
``The deal is really good for a big man,'' the 19-year-old Oden said. ``The biggest rookie big-man deal. I'm very proud of that.''
More Marbury
When it comes to shoe contracts Durant is more Stephon Marbury than Jordan.
Marbury endorses a line of sneakers, none of which cost more than $15. The concept has mothers lining up in malls to load up their shopping carts.
``I respect him a lot,'' Durant said of Marbury. ``He's trying to make a shoe that's affordable. I've seen a lot of young kids wearing them.''
If Durant is as good as advertised we'll be seeing a lot of kids wearing his signature shoe, too.
Then, after paying the bills, of course, there might even be enough left over for a PlayStation.
 
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espn.com

At first practice, Durant looks comfortable at shooting guard



SEATTLE -- Kevin Durant grabbed outlet passes. He stepped out and fed post players who were running down the middle of the floor.


When he did go inside, he soared to the baseline for a rebound over Wally Szczerbiak, the veteran small forward who at 6-foot-7 is two inches shorter but far more bulky than the teenager with the body of a greyhound.

"Way to go, KD!" an assistant coach yelled, proving Durant had an NBA nickname even before his first practice with the Seattle SuperSonics on Tuesday.

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espn.com

X-rays negative on Durant's ankle; status unknown

SEATTLE (ESPN.com news services) -- Rookie Kevin Durant, the second pick in the NBA draft, had 21 points for the Seattle SuperSonics on Tuesday but left with a sprained ankle.

Durant was hurt in the final minutes of Seattle's 126-122 overtime loss to the Golden State Warriors. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that X-rays were negative, but the team did not know if he would travel with the team to Portland for Wednesday's game against the Trail Blazers.

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