Kevin Durant

Born September 29, 1988, Durant tore through high school recruiting boards and won the Naismith College Player of the Year as a Texas freshman - the first time the award went to a first-year player. Seattle took him second in the 2007 draft, and when the franchise became Oklahoma City a year later, he built nine seasons there, reaching the 2012 Finals and claiming MVP in 2013-2014. Then in 2016 he signed with Golden State, the 73-win juggernaut that had just eliminated him, a move that drew fury and delivered back-to-back championships and Finals MVPs in 2017 and 2018. An Achilles tear in the 2019 Finals sent him to Brooklyn, tensions with the front office pushed him to Phoenix in 2023, and two years later the Rockets acquired him in July 2025. He owns four Olympic golds - the only male basketball player to do it - ranks fifth all-time in NBA scoring, and carries the nickname "the Slim Reaper" like a shrug.