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Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant: From the suburbs of Maryland to the NBA

The University of Texas alumni has gone toe-to-toe with all-time greats

By Chris Downey Fox News
Published
  • Kevin Durant on the nets
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    Kevin Durant is an NBA champion and MVP who began playing in the NBA in 2007. Durant grew up in Prince George’s County, Maryland, on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. He helped bring attention to the basketball scene in the area. He has gone toe-to-toe with NBA legends such as Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, and has cemented his legacy as an award-winning basketball player.  (Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images)

  • Kevin Durant during the McDonalds game
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    Throughout his high school basketball career, Durant attended three different high schools: National Christian Academy, Oak Hill Academy, and Montrose Christian School. Durant grew five inches prior to the start of his senior year of high school, going from 6 feet, 3 inches, to 6 feet, 8 inches. He was a consensus five-star recruit throughout his high school career and committed to the University of Texas at Austin prior to the start of his senior season. (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

  • Kevin Durant in college
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    Durant attended the University of Texas at Austin for one season. During his time there, he was named the unanimous college basketball national player of the year. The Longhorns lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament to the University of Southern California despite a 30-point nine-rebound performance from Durant. Durant’s No. 35 jersey is retired by the Texas Longhorns.  (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

  • Kevin Durant on the SuperSonics
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    In the 2007 NBA Draft, Durant was selected as the second overall pick in the draft by the Seattle SuperSonics. Greg Oden was the only player selected before Durant. After a rookie season where Durant averaged over 20 points per game as a teenager, something only LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony had done up to that point, he was named the NBA Rookie of the Year. The Seattle SuperSonics relocated to Oklahoma City and the team became known as the Oklahoma City Thunder before the 2008-09 season. (Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)

  • Kevin Durant and his mother Wanda
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    Kevin Durant is the son of Wanda Pratt, who raised him and his brother when she was just 21 years old. Durant and his mother have a very close relationship, and he famously called her "the real MVP" when accepting his NBA MVP in 2014. Durant’s mother says Kevin was teased for being tall when he was in middle school.  (John W. McDonough/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)

  • Westbrook and Kevin Durant
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    Russell Westbrook was drafted to the Oklahoma City Thunder after the team relocated from Seattle. Durant and Westbrook made up an all-star duo that consistently made it to the NBA Playoffs and even appeared in one NBA Finals, where they squared off against LeBron James and the Miami Heat. (Chris Elise/Getty Images)

  • Kevin Durant accepting his MVP award
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    Kevin Durant, who frequently goes by his initials, won the NBA MVP award in 2014. During the 2013-14 season, KD averaged 32 points with over eight rebounds and over five assists per game. When he accepted the award, Durant dedicated the honor to his mother during his speech. Durant chose to leave the Thunder in 2016. (Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)

  • Kevin Durant and Steph Curry
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    During the NBA free agency period in 2016 Durant chose to join the Golden State Warriors. The move was viewed as controversial since the Warriors had knocked Durant out of the playoffs in the previous season. During his three years in Oakland, the Warriors made it to the NBA Finals every year and won two NBA Championships. In the 2019 NBA Finals Durant tore his Achilles tendon and the Warriors were defeated by the Toronto Raptors. When Durant entered free agency once again, the Warriors feared Durant was heading to the East Coast.  (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

  • Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving
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    In the 2019 NBA free agency period, Kevin Durant signed with the Brooklyn Nets. Although he was ruled out the following season due to his torn Achilles tendon, he still signed a max contract. Durant teamed up with his long-time friend Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn with hopes of bringing a championship to New York City. Kevin Durant is seen above walking down the court between teammates Kyrie Irving, left, and Edmond Sumner, right, in a game against the Washington Wizards. (Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)

  • Kevin Durant and Rich Klieman
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    Kevin Durant’s longtime manager Rich Klieman helped Durant start Thirty Five Ventures. Thirty Five Ventures incorporates all of Durant and Klieman’s business ventures and was founded in 2016. Klieman helps oversee the Thirty Five Ventures business portfolio which features over 70 companies. One of the business opportunities pursued by Thirty Five Ventures is the production of "NYC Point Gods," which was released in 2022. Durant and Klieman assisted in producing the film.  (Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

  • Kevin Durant charity
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    Kevin Durant also has his own charity foundation. The self-titled Kevin Durant Charity Foundation’s mission is "to enrich the lives of at-risk youth from low-income backgrounds." Durant’s foundation has been running for a long time and began back in his days in Oklahoma City in 2013. Durant can be seen above volunteering for his foundation in Oklahoma City.  (Layne Murdoch Jr./NBAE via Getty Images)

Kevin Durant was born in Prince George’s County, Maryland, on the outskirts of Washington. D.C., on Sept. 29, 1988, to Wanda and Wayne Pratt. Durant’s parents were divorced when he was young, and he was primarily raised by his grandmother and mother until his father reentered his life when he was 13. He was six feet tall in middle school and was a five-star basketball recruit throughout his time in high school.  

Durant played college basketball at the University of Texas at Austin, where he was the national player of the year and scored over 25 points per game. After entering the NBA Draft in 2007, Durant was selected number two overall to the Seattle SuperSonics. He won Rookie of the Year during his first year in Seattle.  

After one season in Seattle, the team relocated and Kevin became a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder, a new franchise. As of 2022, Durant has played for the Seattle SuperSonics, Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors, and the Brooklyn Nets and has been to four NBA Finals, winning two of them, with two NBA Finals MVP trophies and a league MVP trophy from 2014. Other NBA players have praised Durant, such as the late Kobe Bryant calling him "the hardest player to guard." 

Off the court, Durant is a businessman. He and his longtime manager Rich Klieman founded Thirty Five Ventures. The portfolio for Thirty Five Ventures consists of over 70 companies including Boardroom, a media network that covers the business side of sports, entertainment, and culture. He also started the Kevin Durant Charity Foundation in 2013.