The Complete History of Kevin Durant and Trae Young

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So, with Trae Young being one of the most hyped players coming into the NBA, even being compared to Stephen Curry throughout his college career, he had all of this weight on his shoulders to live up to these high expectations. Now, with Young officially in the league, he's done more than just live up to the hype, he's already surpassing it. But it's been a long road for Trae, and it hasn't been easy. From traveling across the country just to find opportunities to compete playing basketball, to having the added pressure of living up to his own dad's success as a pro. But luckily for Trae, he's had a few helping hands throughout his journey, with rappers like Lil Wayne and Quavo reaching out early to help guide and support him throughout his career. But most importantly, this is the untold story of Trae Young and Kevin Durant, and the impact Durant made on Trae has completely shaped who he is today. Trae Young's early life. So before Trae Young became the fourth Migo in a mainstream sensation, there's a lot of untold story leading to his recent success that will shock you. Trae Young, aka Ice Trae, was born in Lubbock, Texas, and is the son of Candice and Rayford Young. His father actually played basketball at Texas Tech, and even played professionally in Europe. In many ways, Trae's father Rayford has actually been readying him for the NBA since birth back in 1998 Trae was born when Rayford was a junior guard on Texas Tech's basketball team, and his mother Candice was a sophomore at the school as well. But even from the beginning, there was little doubt that his Trae would be a basketball player too. Candice and their first two children, Trae and Caitlin, were constantly on the move as they tagged along to Rayford's professional events in France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. But eventually they ended up settling in Norman to be near Candice's family in Oklahoma. But Rayford knew all along that there was tougher basketball competition in Texas, and so as early as grade school, he would actually send Trae on a ferry at least three hours to Dallas, or sometimes even a ridiculous six hours to Houston, just for the competition and professional experience to be included in Trae's early development. Trae's father would often tell him, this is what it's all about. Do you just want to stay in Norman and play with all your friends, or do you really want to be one of the best? However, this is easier said than done, as it takes a tremendous amount of work on a daily basis to perfect your craft. But his father believed Trae had what it took. Keep in mind that all of this expectation led to an incredible amount of work at home and even constant film study, which included Kyrie Irving's pre-draft workouts, Warriors games, and DVDs by Rayford's friends who populated NBA staffs. Both Trae and his father would even arrive hours early to hometown Thunder Games, which interestingly enough, Rayford has had season tickets since the team moved to Oklahoma City back during the 2008 season. But they would go as deep as studying players' pre-game routines for different dynamics that Trae could mimic when practicing in his own ways. Friday nights for Trae meant cone drills at a nearby junior high. School days would begin at 6 a.m. at the YMCA and then resume there in the afternoon, where his father would provide many opportunities in drills, including one which he'd hold a broom above his head so that Trae could actually shoot up and practice floaters, which is a drill originally inspired by legendary point guard Steve Nash. Trae's father said, There'd be three courts, parents just joking around, shooting with their kids, and then you see this military dad with the broom on the court screaming, come on, get it over the broom. But honestly, it doesn't matter how it looked to anybody, you can't argue with the results and quickly the results were in. In other ways as well, Trae's father actually prepared him for the NBA lifestyle in any possible way that he could. Rayford wanted Trae to not only see what the lifestyle was like but feel it as well, and pretty much demystify the NBA for Trae at a young age. Using his own personal friendships with plenty of players and coaches, he was actually able to get his son in the locker rooms and chat with the superstars whenever and wherever he could, as much as possible, basically to soak up the advice that could give him and even give him a sense of purpose towards his tremendous workload and craft. Once Trae was making his route through the elite AAU circuit, he started to meet stars as legendary as Laker Kobe Bryant. Even Anthony Davis, whose advice to him, was telling him not to shave his eyebrows. As a boy, he actually nearly wore a Chris Paul jersey any chance he got. But now, having connected through youth all-star camps and his professional career, he and Chris Paul speak regularly over FaceTime, often about everything but basketball. Golden State Warrior Kevin Durant even sponsored Trae's AAU team, and sometimes Katie's people would invite Trae to come over to the ridiculous house to watch basketball and hang out at Durant's place in Oklahoma City, basically the same area that Trae grew up in. Trae's father even said that Kevin Durant gave life-changing advice over the years, in assisting Trae become the player he is today. Now, Trae Young attended Norman North High School in his hometown of Norman, Oklahoma, in which he started on varsity as a freshman. That's already a ridiculous accomplishment in itself, but Trae isn't easily impressed by the things he does. The very next year during his sophomore season in high school, he already stepped up to averaging 24 points, five assists, and four rebounds per game. He actually ended up carrying Norman high to the 2015 Oklahoma area championship and being named Oklahoma's sophomore of the year just the beginning for Ice Trae himself. He was barely 16 when he sat down for his first TV interview in his own family's living room. But okay, at this point, you already know that this man has some potential, but what happens next for him breaks the door of opportunities wide open. Moving on to his junior year of high school, he somehow improved his game to an even more incredible level, averaging 34 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 4.6 assists that season, as he led the team to a 28-4 record, even winning the regional title and placing runner up in the 2016 Oklahoma class championship game. He was also named Oklahoma's Player of the Year. No surprise there, and the state of Oklahoma's largest paper actually published a schedule of Trae's upcoming games with the headline, Where to See Norman North's Trae Young in Action. By the next season, the bleachers even just at the school's practices were filled with major college coaches. At this point, he's already putting up absolutely ridiculous numbers, and there's no way he can get better, right? Wrong. This man took things to another level not many before him have. In his senior season, he averaged 42.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game, while shooting 48% from the field, even once scoring 62 points in a 32-minute game where he set out nearly a quarter. On the court, he was constantly drawing double teams, but at the same time often breaking them by pushing the ball between defenders' legs, embarrassing them. With this power came great responsibility, and things grew so frenzied with fans trying to get post-game selfies and to meet Ice Trae himself that the team assigned an assistant coach just to act as his bodyguard. Absolute legend in the making, but Trae has said, none of this is overwhelming. I've been working to try and have it like this for a long time. Young was considered one of the best players in the 2017 recruiting class going into college by ESPN. ESPN themselves actually considered him the second best point guard prospect that year, while a lot of the other websites considered him the third best point guard of the recruiting class that year as well. Last year, as his college decision announcement got closer and closer, it all got to be a bit ridiculous. Trae would actually show up to the movies only once the previews had started, and he even stopped going to Thunder Games to avoid fans interrogating him about his next destination. Even on Oklahoma's preseason tour of New Zealand, local kids would whip out their phones when they recognized him immediately. But either way, on February 16th of 2017, Trae Young committed to the Oklahoma Sooners, having him stay in his home state to debut his heavily anticipated college career. Trae Young's college career. In the beginning, there was actually some controversy surrounding Trae Young and the NCAA. The first time the Young family actually met with Oklahoma's NCAA compliance office, Trae was asked how he knew famous rapper Lil Wayne. At the time, he told the truth. He said he didn't personally know Lil Wayne. The compliance officer then pulled up a photo from a Lil Wayne concert, and there was Trae, dapping up Lil Wayne himself. Trae said he was actually called on stage at a show in Oklahoma City because Wayne is a big basketball fan. And Trae felt he was someone a big basketball fan would and should know, and he went up to him. The compliance officer then asked if Trae knew Lil Wayne actually owned a sports agency. This is a problem that could present itself only when you're in the spotlight as much as someone like Trae Young. But the office just reminded him that with the NCAA rules being what they are, Young can't profit from his likeness. It's just surprising how well Trae has handled all of this. The pressure, the expectations, and the spotlight. On February 16th of 2017, like I said, Trae Young committed to the Oklahoma Sooners, and this was the beginning of something special. On November 26th, a couple of games into the season, Trae Young recorded a season-high 43 points in seven assists and a 90 to 80 win over the Oregon Ducks. That specific game had his name draw comparisons to Golden State Warrior Stephen Curry in terms of his playing style, shooting threes at a deep range so consistently. When asked about the comparisons to such a great player in today's NBA, Trae said that they aren't necessarily hard to live up to because it's the people themselves that expect him to play like Steph every night. Trae just goes out there and plays his own game, but who wouldn't want to be compared to an all-time great shooter like that? On December 19th, Young tied the NCAA single game assist record with 22, while also recording 26 points in a blowout 105 to 68 win against the Northwestern State Demons. It's Young's passing that has most surprised people watching him in his college days since he had this image portrayed as a shooter only, but he in fact excels at playmaking as well. He averaged just five assists in high school, but now regularly passes it, even to teammates who didn't even know they were open. Only four players in the last 20 years have averaged more than his nine assists per game. Was that something he consciously worked to improve? It's just the perception, he said. This is how I've always played. This completely makes sense as he's been labeled the next Stephen Curry before even showing the world his complete game. Throughout his season with Oklahoma, Trae Young rose from being a projected late first round or even a second round pick to being a potential top three pick in the 2018 NBA draft. Throughout the year, he was praised from both LeBron James and Stephen Curry for his season with Oklahoma. On January 20th, Young recorded a new career high 48 points on a ridiculed 14 for 39 shooting performance and a close 83 to 81 overtime loss to their state rival Oklahoma State University. But just a few days later, Trae recovered from that with a 26 point performance while shooting 70% and nine assists and an 85 to 80 win over the then number five ranked University of Kansas on January 23rd. To say Trae wasn't truly remarkable during his year with Oklahoma would be ridiculous. Young finished his freshman regular season beating the entire country in many statistical categories. Assists with 271, turnovers, something he's not proud of with 161, which I'm sure that he'd probably like to forget. Points, 848 throughout that season. Points per game, averaging 27.4. Assists per game, 8.7, nearly nine a game. Like I said, only four players in history have actually averaged more than that. And assist percentage, 48%.