“Every time I played against him, he would just frustrate me and make me mad, “ that’s what Kevin Durant used to think when he played his brother Tony Durant. Apparently, both of them were the product of the same AAU team, PG Jaguars. It’s coach Taras ‘Stink’ Brown who personally coached Kevin Durant to unleash the mad skills from his lean frame. However, KD was not the only blue-chip player on the team. It included present-day stars like Mike Beasley and Chris Braswell.

One of his Jaguars teammates and modern-day shooting coach, Chris Matthews, shared the horrors of sharing the team with such lethal players. The 39-year-old unfurled the memories from his AAU days on the ‘Run your Race’ podcast, stating, “Those runs actually helped me become the player I am today.” Recalling names of the powerhouses from his team, the ‘lethal shooter’ added, “I don’t know if you guys know Don Washington played at Virginia Tech, but Don was on my team, Patrick Baldwin Jr., Kevin Durant, Mike Beasley, my entire team went D1. So in those practices I was being pushed to very uncomfortable situations.”

“If I switch to Kevin, he goin’ to kill me, If I switch to Mike, he goin’ to kill me. If I switch to Don, he was dunking on me. Patrick Baldwin Jr. back then go through the legs from the free throw line, “ Matthews revealed the terror from AAU practice games. It is quite admirable that, treading through that competition, Chris Matthews is one of the most sought-after NBA shooting coaches. As per the ‘lethal shooter,’ he trained the Celtics’ Jaylen Brown last season, who turned out to be the NBA MVP later.

Nevertheless, you might be wondering if it was just hard work or sheer talent that brought Durant so far in his initial years. Let us get right back to it.

Kevin Durant was “pushed like nobody else” to become a child prodigy

At the age of 10, when Durant performed in the Rec Center’s youth league playoffs, a lady referred to him as “Jordan.” That’s when the Slim Reaper found his motivation to watch the NBA and pursue his career in basketball. However, little did he know what was coming his way after the commitment he confessed to his mother.  Taking her baby boy’s ambition seriously, Pratt quoted, “I made a promise to him that I would help him do whatever he needed to do.”

However, Kevin Durant’s mother “pushed” him “like nobody else.” That’s when Kevin Durant got his introduction to the PG Jaguars coach “Stink” Brown through a family friend. He replaced Durant’s play time with ducking walls, jumping ropes, and shooting basket drills. The move today that we get to witness from Durant even came from coach Brown. Some of the fundamental moves that Durant learned there were a two-dribble jump shot, a pull-up jumper, and a baseline drive.

That hill climbs, and undeterred drills molded Durant into a lethal AAU player that Chris Matthews experienced. As time passed and the Slip Reaper went through various high schools and colleges, his game got sharper. That’s how we got the dagger shot penetrating through the defense of the opposition and modern-day 4x Olympic gold medalist.

Before you go, do not forget to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Asia Avinger