"We kind of put two and two together": Kevin Durant on how 11-year-old Michael Beasley stole a pizza from his team the first time they met
Kevin Durant usually has to worry about opponents stealing the basketball from him. However, Durant recalled a story about how he had a pizza stolen from him.
Kevin Durant first met Michael Beasley when they were 11 years old. Surprisingly enough, Beasley was a troubled kid since back then and was tough to coach or discipline. At Beasley's first practice with Kevin Durant at the rec center, Beasley left a little bit earlier than everybody else. However, as he left, he stole the team's lunch, which was a pizza.
Here is what Kevin Durant had to say about that incident:
"Yeah, we had practice at the rec center and it was the first time we all ever met Mike. We were, like, 'He's not from our side of town, he's from 5 or 10 minutes down the road." And, that's a long ways away if you're living in that area.
"We had practice and we knew he was tall. He was gonna grow into a great player. You know so we ordered pizza for the whole team and after practice we were all looking forward to it. And, he had to leave early I guess, like 10 minutes early."
Kevin Durant continued:
"And we came out and all the pizza was gone. And, you know, we looked out the door and he was jumping in a car and he had a piece of slice in his hand and we kinda put two and two together. That was our first impression of Mike.
"We knew we had to deal with a load on our hands. But, he was a free spirit and ever since then, we was always together every single day up until 10th grade."
This was an unlikely beginning of a friendship between Durant and Beasley. The two are childhood friends and do share a special bond. In fact, Beasley has also shown love toward Durant in the past and was quoted saying:
"KD was my first real friend. Like sleepovers and all. He was the first time I ever brought my Xbox out of the house."
It is a beautiful moment when two basketball players become friends. This obviously shows in your team chemistry on the court and likely helped both of their journeys in the NBA.
"I wanted to get to his level" - Kevin Durant on trying to be like Michael Beasley
It might seem odd today that the two-time NBA champion and arguably the greatest scorer in NBA history Kevin Durant wanted to be great like Michael Beasley. However, back in the day, Beasley was a force to be reckoned with. In fact, Beasley was the second overall pick in his draft class and was supposed to be the next LeBron James.
Here is what Durant had to say about Beasley's game back in school:
"He was so much better than I was after a while. I wanted to get to his level. I wanted to be better than him. We always competed and everything. I wanted to be as good as him. And, I know that sounds a little weird because he's younger than me, but I just try to push myself to be better."
Durant has worked exceptionally hard over the years to look like a naturally talented basketball player. However, there were days in Durant's life when he was insecure and wanted to be better like the rest of us. Luckily for Durant, he was able to achieve his dreams and become an NBA legend.