Both in his one season at the University of Texas and during high school, basketball life came easy for Durant. He was always taller than his opposing player and could see the floor without a problem. He also had an excellent shot and a feel for the game. If someone had a physical advantage on him, he could beat him with his understanding of the game, his quickness and his maturity. And the young star rarely had to defend in his early career. His wingspan and understanding of the game were enough to get rebounds and blocks. And coaches regularly put their top scorer on the side of the defense with the opponent’s least-dangerous scorer.
But that was not the case in the NBA. Durant’s first coach, P.J. Carlesimo, switched him from small forward to shooting guard. The coach did not want the physically disadvantaged Durant to be eaten alive by posting small forwards. Carlesimo thought that at just 215 pounds, Durant would have been bullied around not only by the likes of LeBron James (250), Paul Pierce (235) and Carmelo Anthony (230) but even slender players like Andrei Kirilenko (225). So Durant instead would be assigned to run after shooting guards who were all a head shorter than him. This was a hopeless assignment.
“Last season we had to tell Kevin for 48 minutes to stay in a deep defensive stance with his knees bent,” admitted Scott Brooks. The former NBA playmaker took over the coaching duties at Oklahoma City just 13 games into the current season. “But it’s not like Kevin didn’t want to defend as a rookie. People forget that he is 6-foot-9,” continued Brooks. “It’s not easy for him to cover smaller players.”
As Carlesimo’s assistant, Brooks followed closely Durant’s development. And he was convinced that it was counterproductive making Durant into a shooting guard. He may have been able to keep some distance on the wing and still block shots with his long arms. But he was helpless when trying to work through screens or guard players on the drive. At the same time, his main defensive attributes – defensive rebounding and blocked shots – were suffering. After grabbing 8.1 defensive boards and blocking 1.9 shots at Texas, Durant’s NBA numbers dropped to 3.5 defensive rebounds and 0.9 blocks.
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