Brooklyn Nets rookies sing for Kevin Durant on his 33rd birthday

Kevin Durant, who turned 33 on Wednesday, won a gold medal at Tokyo 2021
Kevin Durant, who turned 33 on Wednesday, won a gold medal at Tokyo 2021

Kevin Durant must feel special. Not only is KD legitimately staking a claim to being the best basketball player in the world, but also because his teammates at the Brooklyn Nets are making him feel special. As Durant turned 33 on September 29, the Nets’ rookies, Cameron Thomas (19), Kessler Edwards (21), Raiquan Gray (22), and Marcus Zegarowski (23) organized a small huddle at practice, where they brought and cake and sang happy birthday for KD.

Durant was a good sport and blew out the candles even as the players and coaching staff enjoyed the moment.

“We had the rookies sing Happy Birthday. He got a cake. I don’t think he wants to do much more. He’ll probably tell me ‘OK, that’s enough’ if I add something else to the mix,” said Nets head coach Steve Nash.

Apparently, there were multiple versions of the rookies singing happy birthday for Kevin Durant.

The coach added:

“I think there was, yeah they might have done both versions,” Nash said. “There was a version before practice and the cake version. We definitely made him feel special on his big day.”

Kevin Durant gets pranked at Tokyo Olympics

A few months ago, as Team USA was trying to win the Men’s basketball gold medal at the Olympics in Tokyo, Durant got pranked by the entire US Olympic contingent as they started singing happy birthday for him a full two months before his birthday. Kevin Durant was left completely perplexed by the suddenness of it all as the entire US contingent started singing before walking into the Olympic Stadium for the opening ceremony.

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Durant had a mixed ending to the 2020-21 NBA season. While his Brooklyn Nets lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in the Conference semifinals in a most engaging seven-game series, it was Durant who carried the Nets on his shoulders with teammates Kyrie Irving and James Harden weren’t available for the full series.

Kevin Durant averaged a phenomenal 35.4 ppg and 10.4 rpg in the series as he singlehandedly nearly eliminated the Bucks. Durant’s heroics in Game 7 (48 points, shot to send the game into overtime) and his overall performance in the series reaffirmed his status as the greatest player in the world.

Overall, Kevin Durant appears to be in a good frame of mind ahead of the start of the 2021-22 NBA season.

On Media Day that was held on September 27, Durant even indulged talk show host legend David Letterman when the comic asked him, “Why do people call you KD?” Durant replied with a stoic expression, “My first name is Kevin, with a K, and my last name is Durant, with a D.”

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Edited by S Chowdhury