The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Hall of Honor
- Induction:
- 2022
A Collegiate National Player of the Year whose jersey number 35 is retired at Texas, three-time Olympic Gold Medalist, two-time NBA Champion and 2014 NBA Most Valuable Player as well as a 12-time NBA All-Star, Kevin Durant is one of the most decorated Longhorns ever. In his first and only season at Texas in 2006-07, he was the Consensus National Player of the Year, becoming the first freshman in NCAA history to win any of the major National Player of the Year Awards. Winner of the Wooden Award, Naismith Trophy and Adolph Rupp Trophy, he also earned National Player of the Year honors from The Associated Press, NABC, USBWA, CBS/Chevrolet and The Sporting News. A consensus first-team All-American, he ranked fourth nationally in both scoring (25.8 ppg) and rebounding (11.1 rpg) as a freshman. He also was the Big 12 Player of the Year and his 66 steals (2.1 pg) and 67 blocked shots (2.1 pg) helped him earn a spot on the Big 12 All-Defensive team as well. Durant declared for the 2007 NBA Draft following his freshman season and was the second-overall pick of the Seattle Supersonics, where he earned NBA Rookie of the Year honors in 2007-08. He averaged 21.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists as a rookie in the Sonics final year in Seattle. The Sonics moved to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder in 2008-09 and he played eight seasons there, leading that franchise to four Western Conference Finals, the NBA Finals in 2011-12 and winning league MVP honors in 2013-14. In three seasons with the Golden State Warriors, he averaged 27.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.7 assists and led that franchise to the NBA Finals three times, winning the World Championship twice and earning 2017 and 2018 NBA Finals MVP honors. Currently a member of the Brooklyn Nets, the four-time NBA Scoring Champion is averaging 29.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists in 13 NBA seasons. Durant helped lead Team USA to Olympic Gold Medals at the London (2012), Rio (2016) and Tokyo Games (2021). That’s the most Golds of any Longhorn in an Olympic team sport. He was honored with Outstanding Young Texas Ex Award in 2016, is very active in community service efforts, and donated $3 million to The University of Texas in 2018. His number 35 jersey was retired at Texas in 2009.
