Kevin Durant Felt Disrespected by the ‘Redeem Team’ Snub and Let Everyone Know About It
The US Men’s National Basketball Team was looking for redemption in 2008, and Kevin Durant might have been too young to be a part of it.
In 2006, 18-year-old Kevin Durant was one of the best high school basketball players in the country. He could have made his favorite childhood team, the Toronto Raptors, were it not for the NBA’s unique rule.
Entering as the second overall pick in 2007 for the Seattle Supersonics after becoming the first freshman to win Naismith College Player of the Year, KD heralded his arrival in basketball’s top league.
But it was a little late to prove himself by becoming part of the Redeem Team despite averaging over 20 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and almost a block (0.9) in his debut season.
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In the 2008 offseason, the United States Men’s National Basketball Team had a point to prove at the Beijing Olympics. After losing Silver and Gold in Athens in 2004, they wanted to redeem themselves.
USMNT brought together all the top basketball talent in the country to throw a revenge party and the team became popular as the “Trade Team” as practices and qualifying games began.
Kevin Durant was upset about his snub from the Beijing Olympics squad
All the NBA superstars wanted to be a part of it, and KD had begun to consider himself one of them, as he was proving his worth in practice.
But when the team for Beijing was announced, the Slim Reaper name was not on it. And the 19-year-old was really hurt by it.
“I was disappointed not to do the [2008] olympic team. I felt like I played my way into the team. No one really expected me to play this well in practice, but I was 19 years old and I felt like I had been snubbed. I felt disrespected and said, ‘No, this can’t be like this.’ It will not happen again. He was so upset that he wasn’t part of the trade team. You could tell those guys had a lot of fun playing with each other and I wanted that even if I was on the bench.
I just wanted to learn, absorb that energy from those guys,” Durant said, according to CBS’s Sam Quinn.
‘I felt disrespected’: Kevin Durant was upset about not being part of the ‘Redeem Team’ rosterhttps://t.co/Njjj880v62
— The Inquisitor (@theinquisitr) September 27, 2022
The Redemption Team did what it was supposed to do. The all-star team of Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Carmelo Anthony won Gold without losing a single game in the entire tournament.
Since then, they have won gold in all three Olympics and Durant was the team’s leading scorer in all three. That has made him the top scorer of all time in the National Team.
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KD definitely made the snub his personal redemption and he pulled it off with ease.
