Despite Looking Up to Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, 7x NBA All-Star Stood Out the Most for Kevin Durant: “Tried To Watch His Games As Much as I Could”

It’s natural for hoopers to idolize NBA legends like Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant in their childhood. These idols basically have a distinctive influence on almost every player growing up. The Brooklyn Nets power forward Kevin Durant recently opened up about his childhood, growing up as a basketball fan. Durant revealed that he looked up to the Mamba and King James in his early days. But there was one player who stood out for him the most.

Kevin Durant disclosed in a recent interview that the former Houston Rockets star Tracy McGrady deeply influenced him. McGrady has won 7x NBA All-Star appearances and 2x NBA Scoring Champion titles. Durant’s unsung hero averaged 19.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, with 4.4 assists in his career. However, KD idolized T-Mac for a very specific reason.

Why did Kevin Durant idolize T-Mac?

In a recent episode of Crawford’s Couch, Kevin Durant opened up about his childhood and his NBA journey. The host Jamal Crawford asked Durant which NBA star he liked to emulate during his freshman year. The 2x NBA Champion replied that he looked up to Kobe Bryant and LeBron James like every single baller at the time. However, he also revealed that McGrady stood out to him, in particular.

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Durant further explained why McGrady stood out for him. He said, “T-Mac was the guy that stood out because I felt like we had a similar body type, we had a similar move with the heavy pull-up he started it, I felt like and I tried to take it from him.”

KD also revealed that he spent a lot of time watching the Houston legend’s game and observing his movements to emulate them in his game. “So I tried to watch his games as much as I could, check his moves and try to emulate everything I seen,” he added.

The Net’s star further continued to talk about a memorable moment in his freshman year. He reminisced about seeing McGrady during that time in a Texas training facility, who had come for training camp.

KD on Kobe, LeBron and Jordan

Crawford further asked the Net’s power forward to define Mamba, James, and Michael Jordan in a sentence. KD was quick to reply to the question without a stutter. Durant went on to describe Mamba as the “Top two“, James as the “Greatest and most accomplished” and Air Jordan as “GOAT”.

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Kevin Durant considers Michael Jordan the greatest of all time. Do you agree with it? If not, who do you consider as the GOAT? Let us know in the comment section.