Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook: Unauthorized Biographies

By Belmont and Belcourt Biographies

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are stars on the rise. This book follows both men's lives from their humble beginnings to becoming two of the best basketball players in the world.

Kevin Durant is a six-foot, nine-inch small forward who has worked his way into an elite class of NBA all-stars. The 2008 Rookie of the Year led the league in scoring in the 2009-10 season and was the youngest player ever to win the NBA scoring title. This biography explores Durant's upbringing, his high school and college basketball careers, and details his breakthrough into the NBA, all the way through the end of the 2011-2012 season.

Russell Westbrook is a man who requires no validation from others. He doesn't need you to believe in him. He was 5'8", 140 pounds with over-sized hands and size 14 feet as a 10th grader and sat the bench until his junior year. He is now a perpetual NBA All-Star, an Olympic gold medalist, and one of the finest athletes in the NBA. The story of how he got here is a tale of triumph.

From family to basketball to the future, all you need to know about Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook is right here, right now, in the most up to date coverage of both men’s lives.

This book also includes all of both men’s professional statistics.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Price World Publishing
• Release date: Jan 29, 2013
• ISBN: 9781619842618

Book preview

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KEVIN DURANT

AND

RUSSELL WESTBROOK

Unauthorized Biographies

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Copyright © 2013 by Belmont & Belcourt Biographies

All rights reserved. Neither this book nor any parts within it may be sold or reproduced in any form without permission.

eISBN: 9781619842618

Table Of Contents

KEVIN DURANT

Introduction

Personal

The High School Years

College Career

Landing in the NBA

The Rookie Season

The 2008–09 season

2009–10 season

2010–11 season

2011–12 season

2012-13 season

International career

Charity Work

Statistics

Regular Season Stats

Postseason Stats

RUSSELL WESTBROOK

Introduction

Early years

College

Oklahoma City Thunder

Rookie and Sophomore Games

International career- Senior national team

Personal Life

The tale of Khelcey Barrs

Endorsements

Fashion Statements

Recent Developments

A Teammate's Criticism

Westbrook and Durant vs. The Media

Westbrook vs. Durant

Russell Westbrook vs. Dwyane Wade

Westbrook vs. James Harden

Moving Forward

Statistics

Regular Season Stats

Postseason Stats

KEVIN DURANT

Introduction

Kevin Wayne Durant is an American professional basketball player with the Oklahoma City Thunder of the NBA. A six-foot, nine-inch small forward, Durant was the consensus 2007 National College Player of the Year and the 2006–2007 Big 12 Conference Player of the Year. Durant played one season at the University of Texas before entering the 2007 NBA draft. There, he was selected second overall by the (then) Seattle Supersonics. From there, he went on to win the 2008 NBA Rookie of the Year award following his debut season. In the 2009–10 season, Durant led the NBA in scoring and became the youngest player ever to win the NBA scoring title. He would later be named to the 2010 All NBA First Team. As of this writing, he is, arguably, the most elite player in all of the NBA.

Personal

Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.

– Taras Brown

Kevin Durant is the son of Wanda and Wayne Pratt. Born September 29, 1988 in Washington D.C., Kevin has one sister, Brianna, and two brothers, Tony and Rayvonne. Durant and fellow NBA player Michael Beasley (Timberwolves) grew up together. They have a close friendship and remain best friends. Durant is a spokesperson for the Washington D.C. branch of P'Tones Records, a nationwide non-profit after school music program. From the time he entered the draft in 2007, Durant was represented by agent Aaron Goodwin. On February 17, 2012, Durant announced he was splitting from Goodwin.

Durant wears No. 35 to honor his childhood AAU coach, Charles Craig, who died when he was 35. His favorite food is crab legs. He most admired Vince Carter, NBA guard/forward of the Mavericks, as a child. He loves to play video games (NBA Live and March Madness) and shop for clothes. His favorite motto, which his mentor and coach Taras Brown recites when Kevin was working out is, Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.

Durant learned to play the game of basketball from his godfather, Taras Brown. Brown was the basketball instructor at the Seat Pleasant Activities Center, where Durant spent almost every day of his childhood playing basketball. If he wasn't at school, Kevin was with Brown working on his basketball skills.

Durant grew up with his older brother Tony in Seat Pleasant, Maryland, just outside the nation’s capital. They were raised by their mother, Wanda Pratt, and her mother, Barbara Davis. Their father, Wayne Pratt, left the family before Kevin’s first birthday. He came back into his son’s life when Kevin was around the age of thirteen. Both parents worked for the government, Wayne for the Library of Congress and Wanda as a postal employee.

Kevin was always the tallest boy in his class. He was also very self-conscious about his height. His mother asked his teachers to put him at the end of lines, so he wouldn't stand out as much. His grandmother, Barbara, consoled him, saying that his height was a blessing. Over the years, through all the ups and downs, she would prove to be the family’s rock.

Kevin and his brother loved to play sports. They rooted for the Baltimore area sports teams, including the Washington Wizards, whose stars included Michael Jordan. Kevin would later meet Jordan after being voted MVP at a high school tournament that bore Jordan's name.

Kevin and his brother participated in a wide range of after-school sports at the local Boys and Girls Club. Despite their close relationship, they never played on the same team. In fact, when Tony finished his freshman year at Suitland High School, he decided to blaze his own path. Kevin's older brother transferred to St. John's Military School in Salina, Kansas.

Kevin was a phenomenal young basketball player. His first taste of serious