Durant followed up with a then career-high 42 points in the season finale at Golden State.ĭurant’s confidence continued to grow over his first three seasons, and his scoring average reflected as much, increasing from 20.3 points as a rookie to 25.3 in Year 2, before swelling to 30.1 in Year 3.
The game-winner you see in this video at Atlanta came early in the season in November, but Durant closed out his rookie campaign by scoring twice in the final 45 seconds as his team rallied from a six-point deficit in the final three minutes to defeat Dallas 99-95 in the Sonics’ final game in Seattle. Durant averaged 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists as a rookie. “I committed to USA Basketball when I was coming out of college, and every chance that I can get that I’m healthy and my mind’s in the right place to play basketball, I’m going to go out there and play,” Durant said in July of 2021, just before winning his third Olympic gold medal on the way to becoming the most decorated player in USA Basketball history.Ĭoming off the stint with USA Basketball, Durant became the only Seattle SuperSonic to win NBA Rookie of the Year, serving as one of the few bright spots for a team that captured 20 victories before relocating to Oklahoma City. The second pick of the 2007 NBA Draft, Durant came into the league already exuding confidence borne from competing in training camp as an 18-year-old with the USA Basketball Men’s Senior National Team on a roster featuring legends Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James and Dwight Howard ahead of the FIBA Americas Championship.
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