If you couldn’t tell by his social media habits, Kevin Durant is a down-to-earth athlete who doesn’t view himself as being on a different level from normal people. A great anecdote shared by an employee of his former agency perfectly illustrated that point.
Nate Jones, who works for agent Aaron Goodwin’s Goodwin Sports Management, shared the story on Twitter Monday of Durant taking the Megabus from New York City to Washington DC during the summer of 2011. That was the summer of the NBA Lockout when many players took to playing in amateur pickup games amid labor uncertainty. Durant was at the forefront of that movement, playing in pickup games around the country in some of the famed leagues and venues. Though he was a two-time NBA All-Star and had won two NBA scoring titles in a row, Jones described Durant as a “superstar next door” back then.
Reflecting on the time Durant played at Rucker Park in New York, Jones shared the nugget about Durant taking the Megabus back to DC.
Here’s a cool part of this story that no one really knows about…KD was in NYC with a bunch of friends and they needed to get back to DC where he was staying that summer. The NBA star thing hadn’t really hit him yet, so he just decided to take the Mega Bus back to DC https://t.co/YNtns1ecyu
— Nate Jones (@JonesOnTheNBA) June 10, 2019
KD truly was the superstar next door back then. He kicked off all the NBA superstars wanting to play in pro ams that summer. It was rehashed as the guys only doing it because of the lockout, but KD doing it had NOTHING to do with the lockout. Maybe it did for the others.
— Nate Jones (@JonesOnTheNBA) June 10, 2019
Megabus is a blue bus often used by budget-conscious travelers with fares as low as $1.
Our summer sale is now live, with tickets available through Sept. 10th! Plan your summer vacation today! Book now at https://t.co/ItUW47a1LW pic.twitter.com/AxFgbYTm2S
— megabus.com (@megabus) February 19, 2019
Can you imagine walking onto one of those buses and seeing Durant? It’s not the way you would expect an NBA All-Star to be getting around. But back then, that’s how Durant rolled. His image as a fan-friendly player has changed since then, mostly due to his social media behavior.
