By Jerome Lagunzad
After seven long years, former National Basketball Association league MVP Kevin Durant is set to take Manila by storm anew for a promotional tour today, nearly a month after leading the Golden State Warriors to their second straight NBA title.
The 6-foot-9 Durant, 29, also a two-time Finals MVP winner, will immediately feel the Filipinos’ hospitality with a champion’s welcome at 9th Avenue in Bonifacio Global City at 12:30 p.m.
Then he will have a chance to mingle with a select group of local fans in a meet-and-greet session at the same venue.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist with Team USA will also lead a training session with selected players who have been consistently raising their game at the Araneta Coliseum.
Durant is tasked to share some of his workout routines, training drills and inspirational beliefs throughout the course of the KD Nike Hyper Court Team All-Star Challenge
Durant initially set foot on the country when he took part in the Smart Ultimate All-Star Weekend also held at the Big Dome in 2011, joining the likes of then Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant, Houston Rockets top guard James Harden and several league stars such as superstar playmakers Chris Paul and Derrick Rose.
The second overall pick by defunct Seattle SuperSonics in the 2007 NBA Rookie draft, Durant earned the Rookie of the Year award the following year and won the highest individual award in 2014 when he was still with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Determined to reach another level of success, Durant joined forces with two-time league MVP Stephen Curry and the loaded Warriors in 2015 as they reasserted their league dominance, handling four-time MVP LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers with ease in the last two NBA Finals.
