Kevin Durant: What to know about the stellar career of new Phoenix Suns' star

Kevin Durant has had more than a few detours on the road to becoming one of the best players in NBA history. (He was named one of the NBA's 75 all-time greatest players as part of the league's 75th Anniversary last year). Here’s what you need to know about the 34-year-old Durant's career path, which now brings him to the Phoenix Suns:

2005-07: High school and college

Durant grew up in Maryland, and was a McDonald’s All-American in high school, highly recruited out of Montrose Christian School his senior year in 2005-06. He committed to the University of Texas to play his college ball, though he was heavily recruited by more established powerhouse programs such as North Carolina, Kentucky, Connecticut, Duke and Louisville.

During his freshmen season at Texas in 2006-07, Durant averaged 25 points a game and 11 rebounds, leading the Longhorns to a 25-10 record and NCAA tournament berth. Texas was knocked out in the second round, but Durant became the first freshman to win every major player of the year award, including the Naismith College Player of the Year Award and John R. Wooden Award. Not surprisingly, he declared for the NBA draft after his one year at Texas.

2007: Trivia time

Here are a couple of fun trivia questions involving Durant: He was picked second in the 2007 NBA draft. Who was first? (Answer: Greg Oden of Ohio State, who played in the NBA until 2014). Another: Which team drafted him? (Answer: The Seattle Supersonics, a team longtime Suns fans will remember well. He played his first season with Seattle before the franchise relocated to Oklahoma City for the 2008-09 season).

2008-16: Thunder road

It was in OKC that Durant blossomed into an NBA star, teaming with Russell Westbrook, and for a few seasons James Harden, to build the franchise into a contender. He helped lead the Thunder to the Western Conference Finals in 2011, where OKC lost to Dallas. Durant averaged 27 points a game that season. The following season, the Thunder defeated the Mavericks, Lakers and Spurs in the playoffs before losing in the NBA Finals to Miami. Durant averaged 28 points a game that year, and 30 points a game in the finals. In the 2013-14 season he averaged nearly 36 points a game and was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player.

20016-19: Golden years

At the end of the 2015-16 season, the Thunder again made it to the NBA Western Conference finals, where they ran into the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors coming off a 73-win regular season. The Thunder were on the verge of a major upset, going up 3-1 in the series before falling to the Warriors. After that, Durant was ready to move on and, in an era where building NBA ‘’super-teams’’ was becoming common, he announced after the season he was leaving Oklahoma City to sign with the Warriors, a move that drew widespread criticism.

For Durant and the Warriors, the move paid off big-time. Durant quickly meshed with established stars Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. The Warriors returned to the NBA finals in 2017 and again in 2018, winning both times. And both times, Durant was named finals MVP. The following season, the Warriors returned to the finals, but the injury bug surfaced for Durant. He suffered a strained calf in the semifinal playoffs. He returned during the finals against Toronto, which the Raptors won, but suffered an Achilles tendon injury.

2019-23: Brooklyn bound

During the 2019 off-season, Durant went to Brooklyn in a sign-and-trade deal, but it would be more than a year before fans saw him play in a Nets uniform, as he opted to sit out the 2019-20 season recovering from his injury. He finally returned to the court in December 2020, during the Covid-shortened NBA season. During his time with Brooklyn, the Nets never made it to the NBA finals, even when Durant was paired alongside Kyrie Irving and for one season, James Harden. The closest they came was in 2021, losing Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals in overtime to the Milwaukee Bucks. Durant scored 48 points in the loss. The Bucks went on to defeat the Suns in the NBA Finals.

2023-?: By the time he got to Phoenix

Speculation ran high last summer that Durant, who had signed a four-year, $198 million extension with Brooklyn last year, could end up with the Suns, after word leaked out that he was itching to leave Brooklyn and Phoenix was a preferred destination. Previous connections with Monty Williams while playing for USA Basketball and when Williams was an assistant coach at Oklahoma City were factors. Plus, he got to know Suns' All-Star Devin Booker during the Olympics and had long admiired Booker's play. It didn't hurt that the Suns had just come off an NBA- and franchise-best 64-win season. Why not join a contender?

That talk eventually died down, but things changed over the past week as the Feb. 9 NBA trade deadline approached: Brooklyn dealt Irving to the Mavericks. And the NBA gave final approval to Mat Ishbia's purchase of the Suns. Ishbia wasted no time giving the green light to the Durant deal, sending popular players Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson to Brooklyn along with Jae Crowder, who has sat out all season, and four draft picks (Brooklyn later sent Crowder to Milwaukee). The Suns get Durant and T.J. Warren, who spent five years previously in Phoenix. Durant last month suffered a knee sprain and has been sitting out, but he's expected to return after the NBA All-Star game.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kevin Durant: What to know about the stellar career of new Phoenix Suns' star