Texas Basketball: Jim Boeheim thinks Kevin Durant could’ve chosen Syracuse

There is a bold opinion in place from Syracuse head coach Jim Boehiem that Kevin Durant almost didn’t choose to play for the Texas basketball program.

The time of sports re-airing 24 hours a day is upon us as the novel coronavirus pandemic has halted the basketball landscape in its tracks. And the Texas basketball program was one of those teams impacted greatly by the halting of college hoops action just as it was getting good. Most major conference tournaments were cancelled before a champion was crowned and the NCAA Tournament was cancelled entirely.

And the Texas Longhorns basketball program had their first game of the Big 12 Tournament cancelled, which was supposed to come on March 12 against the five-seed Texas Tech Red Raiders. The COVID-19 outbreak really struck fast and will have an impact on the basketball world, just like the rest of society, for a long time.

However, COVID-19 has prompted a lot of look backs on some of the best and most memorable moments from the last few decades in college hoops. One of those seasons in terms of the Longhorns basketball landscape is the year when former star forward Kevin Durant led this team close to a Big 12 Championship and what should’ve been a much deeper run in the NCAA Tournament.

KD is the most talented player to come off the Forty Acres in a long while, and he’s definitely the best in the NBA at the moment. He ranks above the likes of LaMarcus Aldridge, Myles Turner, Jaxson Hayes, etc. as the best forwards/big men to play for Texas in the last two decades.

According to a Tweet from Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports on April 4, if the former Syracuse Orange assistant coach Troy Weaver hadn’t left for the NBA, head coach Jim Boeheim thinks that KD could’ve played for him instead of Texas. That is a bold claim but one that is interesting to think about.

Boeheim was apparently quoted saying this on a Facebook live showing while the 2003 National Championship Game was re-airing earlier this weekend. That 2003 national title team for Syracuse was led by former star forward Carmelo Anthony.

The former Syracuse assistant coach Weaver left the program for the NBA after the 2003 national title run, joining the Utah Jazz as their head scout. He held that role with the Jazz for a few years, until he was promoted to director of player personnel ahead of the 2007-08 season.

In May 2008, Weaver became the assistant general manager/vice president for the Oklahoma City Thunder. He is now going on more than a decade with the Thunder front office, now the vice president of basketball operations under Sam Presti.

Meanwhile, KD went on to have a sensational freshman season at Texas by averaging more than 25 points per game and 11 rebounds. He was named the AP Player of the Year, and won the Wooden and Naismith Awards. Durant was later picked up by the Seattle SuperSonics with the second overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft.

KD had a very successful run in the NBA as a future Hall-of-Famer that has now won two NBA Championships, one MVP, two Finals MVP’s, 10 All-Star selections, and nine All-NBA honors. He’s currently in the midst of his first season with the Nets.