Last month it was ESPN the Magazine. This month it’s Sports Illustrated. Chris Ballard produced a great feature on Kevin for this week’s Sports Illustrated that’s a must read. The feature is called “Kicking it up a Notch”. Once you read the article, you’ll understand why KD has quickly become one of the top players in the NBA.

Here’s a little preview of the article:

Despite a nine-man rotation that could be described as the March Madness Traveling All-Stars (average age 23) Oklahoma City finished the week with a 22–18 record, just behind eighth-place Houston in the ultracompetitive Western Conference.

This has led to a natural curiosity about the team and especially the 21-year-old Durant, who heretofore was known primarily for two things: being the national college player of the year as a freshman (at Texas) and scoring a ton of points for a bad NBA team (first the Sonics and then, after the team moved in 2008, the Thunder). The latter leads to pejorative labels, whether deserved or not: Gunner, Guy Who Gets His, Volume Shooter. These days, however, Durant is scoring a ton of points for a winning team, and that is regarded as a different thing entirely. Players who do that are tagged All-Star and Franchise Player and have names like Kobe and Carmelo and D-Wade and Dirk.

Make sure to read the rest of the article here

MIAMI – January 18, 2010 – A collective group of professional athletes have joined alliances to provide emergency medical supplies and essentials to those recently affected by the deadly earthquake in Haiti through “Athletes Relief Fund for Haiti”, created by former NBA All Star Alonzo Mourning.

In an effort to provide and encourage relief efforts, athletes like Dwyane Wade, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Al Horford, Michael Vick and Randy Moss have banned together to contribute approximately $600,000, with Lennar Corporation of Florida matching the fund dollar for dollar with a donation that will exceed $1 Million in aide to support the medical needs of the community.

Mourning requested individual donations from athletes like Dominican Republic native, Al Horford (Atlanta Hawks) and he stepped up by donating an entire game salary to the cause. Other contributions included $100,000 donations from NBA players Kevin Durant (Oklahoma Thunder), LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat) each.

As one of the first athletes to visit the devastated country last week with Project Medishare, Mourning knows firsthand how crucial the medical supplies are to saving the lives of the people on the island.

“The unified front that these players have shown is amazing. We are going to continue to raise funds and bring awareness to the issues of this beautiful country as they rebuild.” said Mourning.

“The situation in Haiti is devastating. I wanted to do my part, and contribute to the Athletes Relief Fund so the people of Haiti know we care and support them,” said Durant.

Funds raised will be directed to organizations on the ground, specifically Project Medishare which has actively been working to support the Haitian people for 20 years.

Fans and supporters can go the www.amcharities.org and make a tax deductible contribution to support the relief effort.

Project Medishare is dedicated to improving the health and overall well being of the Haitian people by re-establishing the health infrastructure and providing access to agriculture, education, clean water & sanitation, micro-credit in several communities in the Central Department in Haiti.

A growing list of athlete contributors include: Chris Bosh (Toronto Raptors), Caron Butler (Washington Wizards), Kenyon Martin (Denver Nuggets), Clinton Portis (Washington Redskins), Michael Finley (San Antonio Spurs), Ronnie Brewer (Utah Jazz), Devin Harris (New Jersey Nets), Carlos Boozer (Utah Jazz), JR Smith (Denver Nuggets), Anthony Parker (Cleveland Cavaliers), Ben Gordan (Detroit Pistons), Gilbert Arenas (Washington Wizards), Quentin Richardson (Miami Heat), Michael Beasley (Miami Heat).

Hey Fans, Kevin’s Black Nike Zoom KD II Colorway is available now at Finishline. At only $85, the KD II is the most cost friendly Nike Signature shoe on the market. Once you pick up a pair, send in a pic of yourself holding the shoes and we’ll feature them on the site. You can send the pics to kd35sightings [at] gmail.com.

Thanks,

–Team KD

Hey Fans,

If you’ve been to the blog before, you’ve probably noticed the “sightings” widgets on the side panel. As a part of KD’s mission to make this site a home for his fans, we’re asking fans to send in pictures of themselves with their KD1′s, Hyperizes or Kevin Durant Jerseys. If you click on the sightings widgets now, you’ll see some of the photos fans have already submitted to us. You can send your sightings photos to KD35sightings [at] Gmail.com.

Thanks!

-Team KD

Hey Everyone. In the spirit of the Holidays, I am hosting a giving tree on Tuesday December 15th at Penn Square Mall’s CityScape from 6-8 pm. The Giving Tree will benefit kids from Positive Tomorrows and Sunbeam Family Services. Here’s how it works:

1) Come to my giving tree and pick an ornament off the tree to reveal a child’s wish.
2) Shop in the mall for one or more of the child’s wishes
3) Come back to the tree with the gift and receive an autograph from me. People that spend $100 or more on gifts will also receive two tickets to a Thunder game.

Please come out and support this if you can. This is the time of year to help the less fortunate. No kid should have to go through a Christmas without gifts.

God Bless.

Hey everyone. KD wants to make his site a home for his fans. So today we’re rolling out a section of the blog called the “Fan Zone”. This is where fans will get to blog about KD and the Thunder. We’ll also be using this section to house contests, giveaways, etc.

Here’s our first Fan Zone post. It comes from Justin Geary. Justin sent in this email to us after KD hooked him up with free tickets to last week’s home game against Philly.

There I was sitting on my couch thinking “Man, it would be nice to go a thunder game” but unfortunately I’m broke and therefore my wallet didn’t agree. So I turned to Twitter and decided I would Tweet KD. I said “@KevinDurant35 you should hook a broke college student up with some tickets for tonight’s game…please.” It was kind of a joke but I did want tickets to the game. Not two minutes later I received an email that said Kevin Durant is now following you on twitter, so I went back to twitter and he had responded, he said “@jgeary01 Ok DM me ur name n I got u.”

I couldn’t believe it so I immediately direct messaged him and he informed me there would be 2 tickets for me when I showed up. They could have been anywhere in that arena and I would have been happy but then I show up and the seats were on the Lower Level, it was awesome! KD dropped 33 and Russell Westbrook had 15 assists! It was awesome! I think it’s so awesome that Kevin Durant would reach out to a fan like that, it’s such a respectable thing to do. It shows he truly cares about his fans! Thanks KD!

—Justin Geary

KD is having success both on and off of the court this season. Wednesday he was named ESPN The Magazine’s NEXT athlete for 2010 in the publication’s annual NEXT issue.

The first issue of ESPN The Magazine was a NEXT cover with Kobe Bryant, Eric Lindros, Alex Rodriguez and Kordell Stewart. Other NEXT athletes include Adrian Peterson, Dwight Howard, Yao Ming, LeBron James and Derek Jeter.

Make sure you pick up a copy of ESPN the Magazines NEXT issue with KD on the cover.

Last night KD and the Thunder took on rookie sensation Brandon Jennings and the Milwaukee Bucks. The game was broadcast nationally on ESPN, making it the first nationally televised game of the season for the Thunder. The Thunder made sure to show basketball fans around the country what all the hype surrounding them is about, defeating the Bucks 108-109. KD finished the game with 33 points and 12 rebounds 5 assists and 3 steals. Here are the highlights:

Kevin and the Thunder bounced back from a tough loss to the Lakers on Sunday by beating the Jazz in Utah on Tuesday night. Kevin finished with 28 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists. Kevin is now 5th in the league in scoring, averaging 27 points per night. The Thunder are now 5-4 on the road this season. Here are the game highlights:

Check out Kevin on the cover of this month’s SLAM Magazine. Kevin is on one of 4 available covers for SLAM’s “How-To” Issue. In the issue, SLAM asks the best players in the world to give tips on how readers can become great basketball players.

Kevin’s How-To section? Scoring, of course. With KD’s current 27 ppg scoring average, it’s easy to understand why they would come to KD for that section of the issue.

For more info, check out what SLAM Executive Editor Lang Whitaker had to say about the issue.