Kevin Durant

Kevin Wayne Durant, often called KD, was born on September 29, 1988, in Washington, D.C. His father, Wayne Pratt, left the family when Durant was an infant, and his mother, Wanda Durant, later divorced Pratt. Durant’s grandmother, Barbara Davis, helped raise him, and his father reentered his life when Durant was 13, traveling with him to basketball tournaments. He grew up in Prince George’s County, Maryland, with a sister, Brianna, and two brothers, Tony and Rayvonne.

Unusually tall from a young age, he reached 6 feet in middle school. His favorite team as a child was the Toronto Raptors, and his favorite player was Vince Carter. Playing Amateur Athletic Union basketball in Maryland, he teamed with future NBA players Michael Beasley, Greivis Vásquez, and Ty Lawson, and remains friends with Beasley. He began wearing jersey number 35 to honor his AAU coach, Charles Craig, who was murdered at age 35.

Durant played high school basketball at National Christian Academy, Oak Hill Academy, and Montrose Christian School, growing 5 inches before his senior year. He committed to the University of Texas at Austin, choosing it over visits to Connecticut and North Carolina, and consideration of Duke, Kentucky, and Louisville, saying he wanted to set his own path. He was named Washington Post All-Met Basketball Player of the Year and MVP of the 2006 McDonald’s All-American Game, and was considered the second-best high school prospect in 2006 behind Greg Oden. He later said he would have declared for the 2006 NBA draft—where his favorite team, the Raptors, had the first pick—if the one-and-done rule hadn’t existed.

At Texas for the 2006–07 season, Durant averaged 25.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game. The Longhorns went 25–10 overall and 12–4 in conference, earning a #4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They beat New Mexico State in the first round but lost to USC in the second, despite Durant’s 30-point, 9-rebound game. He became the first freshman to win the Naismith College Player of the Year Award, along with the John R. Wooden Award and all eight other major national player of the year honors. After the season, he entered the NBA draft, and Texas later retired his No. 35 jersey.

The Seattle SuperSonics selected Durant with the second overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft. He played nine seasons with the franchise, which became the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008, leading them to the NBA Finals in 2012 and winning the MVP award for the 2013–2014 season. In 2016, he signed with the Golden State Warriors, who had won a record 73 regular-season games the previous year—a controversial move. With the Warriors, he won consecutive NBA championships and Finals MVP awards in 2017 and 2018. After tearing his Achilles in the 2019 NBA Finals, he joined the Brooklyn Nets as a free agent that summer. Following disagreements with the Nets’ front office, he requested a trade in the 2022 offseason and was sent to the Phoenix Suns the next year. After two full seasons in Phoenix, he was traded to the Houston Rockets in July 2025.

Durant is nicknamed “the Slim Reaper” and is widely considered one of the greatest basketball players and scorers ever. He has won two NBA championships, an NBA MVP award, two NBA Finals MVP awards, two NBA All-Star Game MVP awards, four scoring titles, and the NBA Rookie of the Year award. He is the only male basketball player to win four Olympic gold medals. He has been named to 12 All-NBA teams (six First Teams) and selected as an NBA All-Star 16 times. In 2021, he was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. He ranks fifth in NBA career scoring and has the sixth-highest career regular-season scoring average.

With the U.S. national team, Durant won Olympic gold in 2012, 2016, 2020, and 2024, becoming the first male athlete to win four golds in a team sport. He is Team USA’s all-time leading Olympic scorer and also won gold at the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

Off the court, Durant is one of the highest-earning basketball players globally, thanks in part to a Nike endorsement deal he signed in 2007 that has lasted 19 years. He was named one of Time’s 100 most influential people in 2018 and has appeared on Forbes’ list of the world’s ten highest-paid athletes ten times.