I thought this gave a solid summary of Durant's upbringing and the challenges that he faced. It's not a muck raking biography but it's well pulled together and gives you the basics on Durant and his career.

i would have never picked this book up if it wasn’t for my son. He has been playing basketball for the past few years and have really started to put his heart in the game. KD is an eye opening book for me. It helped me understand him as a man and realize what he had to go through to get to where he is now. Great book

Very few athletes who are stars in their sport, no matter which one, escape some type of controversy in their careers. Kevin Durant is no exception as his decision to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2016 to join the Golden State Warriors set off a furious reaction not seen since LeBron James left Cleveland to sign with the Miami Heat in 2010. The story behind Durant’s decision, as well as a look into his complicated world, is told in this excellent unauthorized biography by Marcus Thompson.

Having already penned one best-selling book about a Golden State star, Stephan Curry, Thompson writes about Durant’s ascent to stardom from Prince George County in the Washington DC metro area, or DMV for DC/Maryland/Virgina as the region is called throughout the book, where he was not only competing but thriving in games against boys older than him. The book then follows Durant to the University of Texas for his one spectacular season for the Longhorns which vaulted him to being the #2 pick in the NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics. He had a fine rookie season, being named the Rookie of the Year and followed the team when it moved to Oklahoma City. This time in Durant’s career was my only negative takeaway from the book – there was far too little written about Durant’s time in Seattle almost like it never happened. That is ironic because later when the Warriors and Sacramento Kings played an exhibition game in Seattle, Durant was the recipient of much love from the Seattle fans.

While the reader will learn about Durant’s rise to superstar status while he was on Oklahoma City, what the reader learns about Durant’s personality and the conflict between Durant’s inner feelings and the public off-court persona he portrayed makes for some of the best reading in the book and why it is a compelling read. In public, Durant never showed any tattoos for a long time, but he had a lot of ink with significant personal meaning on areas of his body where they would be hidden by clothing in public appearances. Through interviews with other players and research, Thompson achieves something difficult to do – providing the reader with an insightful look into an athlete who is still in the prime of his or her career without interviewing the subject. Of course, it has to be taken that this is the viewpoint of Thompson, but it still comes across as a very interesting topic.

Thompson also discusses at length the most controversial part of Durant’s career – his decision to leave the Thunder two years after declaring he would never go elsewhere and sign with the Warriors, who were already a championship team. There are many reasons that have been discussed in the media before, and Thompson addresses every one of them. Much like Durant’s versatility in his game – a seven footer who has a great shooting touch and an explosive first step – Thompson writes about this controversy with much skill as the reader will finish this part of the book with an understanding of what Durant did. That doesn’t mean those who were angry with this move will accept it – they will just become more informed. A great look inside the career of one of the best in the game today as well as a compelling read, fans of today’s NBA will want to add this one to their libraries.

I wish to thank Atria Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting read which unfortunately falls into the typical downfalls of unauthorized biographies of athletes who haven't finished their careers. The book does a good job exploring KD's early life in Washington DC and his ascent to NBA stardom as well as delving into the controversy around his free agency decision to join the Warriors. The book feels light on content however as there is still so much of KD's career yet to pan out.