The heartbreaking story why Kevin Durant wears no. 35

Kevin Durant started wearing No. 35 in college at the University of Texas at Austin.

A jersey number is not just a number for most athletes. It typically has a deeper and more sentimental meaning for the athlete. The same applies to Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant, who wears No. 35 to honor one of his mentors.

Number 35

Durant has been wearing the number 35 jersey since his college days at the University of Texas at Austin. This is a gesture of respect to Charles Craig, one of Durant’s early coaches and mentors, who was gunned down in a parking lot in Laurel, Maryland, in 2005 at 35 years old.

The former league MVP met Craig at the Seat Pleasant Activity Center when he was about eight years old. Craig taught Durant and the other kids in the center everything he knew about basketball. Off the court, Craig took the kids to movies, gave them money for snacks, and drove them home. Durant, who unfortunately did not have a steady relationship with his father, saw Craig as his father figure.

“He loved kids,” his mother, Claudette Craig, per malaymail. “He would do anything for any 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥. He had a van, and he’d come by with a bunch of kids and say, ‘Ma, I got a bunch of hungry kids, can you feed ’em? I’d say, ‘If you get the food, I’ll cook it.’ He was a terrible cook.”

KD’s every chapter

Durant debuted the No. 35 jersey with Texas in his lone year with the school. After his freshman year, he declared for the NBA and was picked second overall by the Seattle Supersonics. Today, the No. 35 Durant Sonics jersey is a rare collectible for NBA fans.

Meanwhile, the No. 35 Oklahoma City jersey was the one Durant donned when he entered mainstream consciousness. It was with the Thunder that Durant became known as a prolific scorer and a league MVP. When he took his talents to the Bay Area, Durant still wore No. 35 and won his first two championships.

After a brief stint wearing no. 7 for the Brooklyn Nets, Durant is now back at No. 35 for the Phoenix Suns. Charles Craig has been with him in spirit in every chapter of his stellar basketball career.