Full Text of KD Article

Kevin Durant's leadership style is an important aspect of the Oklahoma City Thunder's development and is the No. 1 reason they improved by a staggering 27 wins over their 2008-2009 season.

To start this article, I want to separate his basketball talents and physical skills from his leadership style. His talents include leading the league in free throw attempts per game and being a prolific scorer; his leadership skills allow him to translate that hard work into motivation for his teammates to accept and improve their own roles for the team.

His leadership primarily affects his teammates and what they do, while his talents affect his impressive nightly stat line and nothing else.

Oklahoma City fans already know what the rest of the world is learning: Kevin Durant is a firm believer in “Leadership by Personal Example.” What is so natural for small families and military units becomes a rare trait in the world of multi-million dollar athletes.

Has anyone seen this hilarious Allen Iverson video? Statistically, they both have regular season scoring titles; for philosophy, they couldn't be farther apart.

Leadership by example is the strongest type of leadership and is actually fairly rare in sports. It is legitimately difficult to demand someone making $15 million dollars a year, worshipped by hundreds of thousands of fans and his own national brand, to accept the same standards as a bench warmer.

LeBron James had his entourage fly with him on the team plane; Barry Bonds had a designated leather seat in the dugout, and we all know many other stories of over-pampered adult men. I know of no such Kevin Durant story and while one may emerge, his example right now is one of hard work, effort, and discipline.

The best example is how many times Kevin gets to the free throw line per game: 10.24, with a 90% success rate.

Besides Dirk Nowitzki, I can't think of a player that tall who makes so many free throws.

More importantly, it takes a strong commitment to aggression and absorbing a relentless physical beating to earn that many free throws in the NBA. He took 840 free throws this past year: that is a lot of NBA-level fouls, fouls from centers and power forwards who weigh in excess of 240 pounds per person.

His personal example is what sets up Thabo Sefolosha to selflessly play defense (and not much else) for every game of the year, similar to Tim Duncan's leadership encouraging Bruce Bowen to work hard for little personal reward and recognition.

It is important to remember that while NBA teams win and lose as a team, they get paid individually, often based on scoring and perception with less emphasis on defense and rebounding.

Many collections of "talented" players under achieve and fail to make waves in the playoffs (think Golden Sate Warriors 2007-2008 or Atlanta Hawks 2009-2010). Neither team had a leader able to inspire selfless acts, merely a collection of scorers focusing on their stat lines.

His personal belief in work hard combined with his physical tools have made him one of the best players in the NBA. A man who will inspire peak performances from his teammates not just on game day, but during off season workouts, off days during the season, and in the film room.

That is why they improved 27 games over the previous season, and while they won't improve by 27 wins again (that would mean 77 wins next season!), they can easily set their sights on earning home court advantage for at least one round of the playoffs, perhaps more.

The best thing to occur during the "Summer of LeBron" for the Thunder was Kevin Durant signing a five-year contract extension worth about $86 million. That will take him to age 26, the age where most players focus on simply maintaining their abilities rather than improving.

Oklahoma City gets to watch one of the preeminent leaders and players of this generation mature, grow, and ultimately create a legacy that will be remembered.

Leadership of Kevin Durant facts and tidbits

Kevin just signed a On July 7, 2010, Durant announced on his Twitter page that he signed a 5 year contract extension with the Thunder.^[42] The extension is worth about $86 million.^[43]

[edit]Personal

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That was a cut and paste job.

This post is really just a way for me to assemble to some facts about KD. The full article will come later.

He is also on Team USA and the likely leader (in terms of star power) for the team (also in terms of desire and work ethic). A quick look at the potential roster shows he was the regular season scoring leader, but Chauncey Billups (NBA champ '04, Finals MVP '04) and Lamar Odom (NBA Champ '09, '10) are on the team with a lot of credentials. It will be interesting to see if they defer to him, or resent his alleged "arrival".

Chauncey and Lamar have a history of deferring to others, so its possible.

2010 All-NBA 1st team.

I shall talk briefly about the psychology of being skinny, but should keep it brief.

Mention work ethic; find some quotes about KD to use. "quiet leadership".

The Leadership Style of Kevin Durant

I want to publish a BR article about the leadership style of Kevin Durant and I will start my leadership inquiry here.

First off I think he believes in leadership by example. He is motivated to be the hardest worker on the team, and goes about his training in a logical and forthright manner.

He is skinny, and as a former "skinny kid" myself, I know that it only makes his mental toughness go up to make up for his perceived lack of physical toughness. Contrast with Shaq, who is physically very tough but has been very sensitive to criticism his entire career. So KD followers won't have to worry about his ego getting in the way.

Leadership by example is similar to that of Kevin Garnett, who frequently spoke of his desire to be the first one in the gym and the last to leave.

Contrast with the leadership style of Allen Iverson, which is about on-court performance and nothing else. This is less effective because although it worked for A.I. personally, it never pulls teammates up and indeed, allows him to measure his performance separately from that of others.

KD and Kevin Garnett were more about team results and feel that they can singlehandedly win games by outpracticing and outworking everyone before the game even starts. This is the most effective team-leadership style for the NBA.

While personal performance merits all-star appearances, the last shot as the game expires, and many other accolades, many people are interested in team performance (i.e. making the playoffs, securing home court advantage,

Back to KD. KD has taken some criticism personally, such as when he was attacked on Truehoop and by several statisticians about his poor pick and roll defense. He responded by focusing on that area and showing much improvement this year.

The important thing to note is that by focusing on a weakness, he improved it. That search-and-destroy mentality to weaknesses is reminiscent of an MJ saying "I will take a weakness and make it a strength".

Contrast this with LeBron James, who's back to the basket and post-up game are way below where they should be for someone of his amazing ability and potential. Two straight post-season flame-outs have not convinced him to work on his shortcomings but have instead made him sign with Miami, hoping that better teammates will bring him the championships he desires.

It seems likely that KD will methodically work to improve all areas of his game until injury and age make it more important to maintain his current levels rather than aspire for higher ones.

He is currently twenty one and NBA players max out physically around 26. While the mental game and experience continue to grow day to day, Kevin has about five seasons of the methodical improvement which is so fun to watch as a fan of Oklahoma.

**mention contract length here**