Durant Puts Basketball First, and Second
(The New York Times)Updated: 2007-06-28 16:08
After every game and practice, Durant asked Barnes to critique his game, particularly his defense. During interviews with N.B.A. team executives, Durant extols the virtues of his Texas teammates. The only time he shows any hint of ego is on the court, when a lanky, laid-back kid turns into a near maniacal competitor — whooping, gesturing, glaring.
"I don't want to tell you, but I got a different name when I'm on the court," he said. "Everything kind of changes. I got a mean face every time I do something."
Durant was still in grammar school in Suitland, Md. when he started to dream out loud. He was 10 or 11 when he announced his intentions to his mother. Pratt advised her youngest son that this would require dedication and hard work, not quite realizing at the time that Durant would follow these directions to the letter.
"He was driven early," she said. "That's why I believed that this is what he's supposed to do."
N.B.A. scouts need no convincing. Durant was on their radar as a high school senior and cemented his wunderkind status in his season at Texas, where he averaged 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds as a swingman.
Durant is listed between 6-foot-9 and 6-10, but he can play any area of the floor. He has the ball-handling skills and passing savvy of a point guard, the ability to score from the 3-point line or the low post, and the quickness to match up with almost anyone. He also blocks shots and rebounds when he is not soaring for crowd-pleasing dunks.
There is little Durant cannot do, except avoid endless comparisons to every long-limbed, multiskilled N.B.A. star. He has been likened to Kevin Garnett and Dirk Nowitzki, Tracy McGrady and George Gervin. University of Washington Coach Lorenzo Romar called him "a cross between George Gervin and Bob McAdoo."
"He's a big-time competitor," said Jerry West, the departing Memphis Grizzlies president, whose own ferocity as a player and executive is legendary. "He's going to be a star in this league."
If the last eight or nine years are any indication, Durant will also get much, much better. Pratt recalls the late nights sitting in her car while Durant ran sprints up and down Hunts Hill, a suburban street in Seat Pleasant, Md., and the long afternoons spent dribbling around the gym.
Yesterday, Pratt fought back tears as she took her first look at a video game featuring her son on the cover.
"It's just a wonderful thing to see, that my son had a dream," she said. "Because it's very seldom that people get to live out their dreams, live out a dream like this."
REBOUNDS
The N.B.A. will conduct a news conference call today to announce the renewal
of its media rights deals with ESPN, ABC Sports and Turner Sports. ESPN and
Turner are expected to pay modest increases over their current contracts, which
have averaged $766.6 million annually since they went into effect in the 2002-3
season and will end after next season. The new deals are for eight years.
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