The Unlikely Friendship that Changed Kevin Durant Forever

ESPN Daily

ESPN

Sports

4.6 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 5 May 2023

⏱️ 32 minutes

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Summary

In June of 2005, 18-year-old Kevin Durant attended an all-star basketball camp for high schoolers that consisted of mostly juniors and seniors. During his stay at camp, he roomed with another young high schooler from Japan, named Taishi Ito, who had come to the United States to play basketball. The two were total opposites: Durant was 6’9 and full of hype, while Ito was 6’0 and was hoping to secure a D1 scholarship. The two became inseparable, as their friendship continued into their senior year of high school, and created a bond that would carry on well into their adult lives. So today, Ryan Hockensmith joins the show to tell us the story of how this unlikely friendship became one of the most important relationships in Kevin’s life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's my Remetcats.
0:03.4	I know you're used to hearing me join the show to explain what's happening in the World
0:06.3	of College basketballer, hosting every Sunday morning on ESPN Radio, or maybe even reading
0:11.0	my words about everything Minneapolis and the star to boom.
0:14.2	But you are going to be hearing different voices hosting ESPN Daily in the coming weeks,
0:18.2	and I'm lucky enough to be one of them.
0:21.2	Helping this podcast do what it's always done.
0:24.0	Tell the best sports stories in audio, day in, and day out.
0:27.6	Thanks for listening.
0:30.0	Ryan Hockensmith, you recently wrote a story about an unlikely friendship.
0:41.0	So what does this story begin?
0:42.4	Well, this story begins in June of 2005 on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth.
0:47.0	There was a top 100 All Star basketball camp for high schoolers, all seniors, a couple
0:52.2	of juniors, mostly seniors.
0:53.8	It was some of the best players in the country.
0:56.7	They are Steph Curry, Kevin Love, and a slew of other guys.
1:06.2	It specifically starts in a dorm room.
1:09.4	It was a suite with two rooms.
1:13.0	In the one room was a young kid named Kevin Durant.
1:16.7	You may have heard of him.
1:19.3	Durant was a rising senior.
1:22.2	At the time, he was at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia.
	...

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