Kevin Durant in Carolina blue rather than Texas burnt orange?
I have trouble picturing it, but it almost happened, apparently. The New York Post’s Peter Vecsey had a story Sunday primarily about how Kevin Love and Kevin Durant are good friends going way back to seventh grade. How Durant has been over to Love’s family home in Oregon (remember Kevin’s dad Stan played in the NBA).
In there comes the little tidbit about how Durant almost went to North Carolina, as told by writer Bill Feinberg to Vecsey.
“Durant had decided on North Carolina, but at the last minute, (North Carolina coach Roy) Williams made a brain-numbing decision with his lone remaining ride,” Feinberg said. “He tabled Durant and chose Brandan Wright instead. Think Roy regrets that one? Durant landed on his feet, choosing wisely. One of the important reasons for Texas was its great strength and conditioning coach, Todd Wright.”
There are a whole lot of could-have-been recruiting stories like this out there. And even the best coaches make mistakes. But you can bet Michael Jordan is brining this one up to Williams next time they talk.