Sports
Kevin Durant and the 15 pregame minutes that’ve helped shape his game and career
PHOENIX — Almost like clockwork, Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant appears 90 minutes before each home game, walking onto the court, ready to get started. The road to 30,000 career points? It didn’t begin here, but the routine played a significant role.
Pregame shooting routines unfold every night across the NBA. Charlotte Hornets coach Charles Lee says they are like a “mental sanctuary” where players visualize and replicate what they’re about to face. Memphis Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins calls them confidence-boosting opportunities, a final primer before tipoff.
Golden State’s Stephen Curry is perhaps best known for his pregame shooting routine, but Durant’s is just as legendary.
“Did you say it was legendary?” he said one day after practice.
OK, well-known.
“Yeah, because I’ve been around for a while.”
Not true. Watching Durant work before a game is like watching Tiger Woods in his prime on the driving range. A peek behind the curtain when the curtain is left open. A glimpse of the process that leads to greatness.
Coaches constantly remind young players to work at game speed. Do what you’re going to do in a game. This is what Durant does. Every single rep. “If you go watch one of KD’s pregame workouts, like his 15 minutes on the court pregame, he’s in a full sweat,” former Suns assistant Miles Simon said. “It’s like he’s started the game already.”
Kevin Durant warms up with Suns assistant David Fizdale before an October game against the LA Clippers. “A dress rehearsal,” Fizdale calls it. (Adam Pantozzi / NBAE via Getty Images)
Players approach this in different ways. Phoenix teammate Devin Booker says his pregame session is more about mindset than shooting.
“It’s hard to emulate the game, so the more you can zone out and imagine yourself in game-like situations, the better,” he said.
Suns point guard Tyus Jones wants to see the ball go through the net. Others take a looser approach.
Before he was traded to Milwaukee, former Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma did his normal shooting, but he also spent a few minutes chucking half-court shots, trying to see if he could get the ball to bounce off the hardwood and through the basket (he never did).
Durant has tweaked his routine over the years, but the foundation never changes. It’s about fundamentals.
“Balance, follow through, get my legs up under me. But also try to get a sweat in,” said Durant, who recently became the eighth NBA player in history to reach 30,000 career points. “I think that’s the main thing. Not to go through the motions, so my first hard move is when the game starts. I want to push off and see how my body feels before the game.”
Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone cannot lie: “I have no idea what our guys do pregame,” he said.
He’s not about to tell Russell Westbrook, who’s in his 17th season, what he needs to do to get ready. Westbrook knows. But for a player like second-year guard Julian Strawther, yes, Malone said, the staff will tailor a routine to help get him ready.
Pregame shooting has come a long way.
Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle recalled during his first season with the Boston Celtics that he warmed up by playing one-on-one against teammate M.L. Carr.
“Back in those days, both teams were shooting at both baskets,” Carlisle said, “and we’re weaving in and out of guys on the other team, on both ends.”
Former NBA assistant Tim Grgurich is credited for changing all this. While on George Karl’s staff with the Seattle SuperSonics in the early 1990s, Grgurich turned free-shooting pregame sessions into developmental work. At first, teams split players into guards and bigs, but as staff sizes grew, they began assigning assistants to work out players individually. The time was too valuable to waste, especially with so many younger players entering the league.
“In college, you have time to prepare,” former NBA and college coach Randy Ayers said. “Once you get into conference play, you’re only playing two games a week. In the pros, you can play five games in seven days. The individual instruction is awfully important because you have to put some rest in there for these guys with the schedule that you have.”
In Phoenix, the team’s vets decide the order in which players work (players mostly work two at a time, and not surprisingly, the rookies go first. Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro take the court before fans are even allowed inside the arena). Routine specifics are usually discussed before the season and adjusted as the season unfolds. Sometimes, they have to be worked out on the fly.
Before a recent game, Phoenix assistant coach Brent Barry worked with guard Vasilije Micić, who had just come to Phoenix in a deadline trade with the Hornets.
“Three makes from the corner,” Barry instructed on the court at Footprint Center. He fired chest passes to Micić, hitting the guard right in the shooting pocket. Swish, swish, miss, swish.
“Now, Vasa,” Barry said. “From the crease, shuffle down. Three makes.”
Some players wear headphones or earbuds. Booker does (he walks around the locker room with them on, too, singing as he prepares to come out for his pregame session). Teammates Bradley Beal and Royce O’Neale do as well.
During a recent trip to Phoenix, Charlotte guard LaMelo Ball wore headphones while stretching but removed them once he started shooting.
Durant has worn headphones in the past. He doesn’t anymore.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I guess I just kind of like to feel the arena a little bit. Get immersed in the atmosphere.”
Rex Chapman was the opposite. He played in Phoenix from 1996-2000, back when the organization had a practice court in the arena complex. Instead of working out pregame on the main court, Chapman hit the practice court and worked in private. His reasoning: too many distractions.
“Going out on the court, I knew there were going to be some people out there wanting to take pictures and autographs and whatnot, and I didn’t want to appear like an a–hole,” Chapman said. “I was getting ready for my job.”
Durant starts on the left baseline with short jumpers. Seven in a row. He steps back for corner 3s. He moves into the post. Bursts into the lane. Turns and fades.
Durant works with assistant coach David Fizdale, who also has coached LeBron James, Ray Allen and Dwyane Wade throughout his career.
“I try to basically set up a little dress rehearsal for what he’s going to face in the game as to how teams are going to guard him, based on his sweet spots, things that we run for him,” Fizdale said of Durant. “A dress rehearsal in a short amount of time. And to Kevin’s credit, the amount of energy he puts into his pregame is unique from a standpoint of his effort.”
This is a benefit — the relationship a player and assistant build. Phoenix guard Grayson Allen works with Chaisson Allen, an assistant he got to know during Grayson’s days with the Milwaukee Bucks.
In his 10 years, Booker has gone through several developmental coaches. Asked about the process of getting paired with an assistant, he says, “You just vibe it up.”
Durant credits Wizards head coach Brian Keefe for showing him how to work. They were together for Durant’s first seven NBA seasons, starting in Seattle and continuing in Oklahoma City. Before a recent game in Phoenix, Keefe downplayed his role, saying he learned more from Durant than Durant learned from him.
But he said it’s not an accident that players like Durant, Curry and James have ascended to this level.
Kevin Durant credits now-Wizards head coach Brian Keefe for helping develop his routine back when the two were with the SuperSonics/Thunder franchise. (Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)
“It’s a singular focus, it’s a dedication to the craft, a love of the game, but it’s (also) that consistency every day, I really believe, watching those guys through the years, that leads to who they are,” Keefe said. “Players don’t get enough credit. An 82-game schedule, pressure to play, pressure to perform, and the ones who do this are the ones who put the work in.”
From the lane, Durant moves to the left wing and fires midrange jumpers. He shifts back to the 3-point arc. The first three are catch and shoot. Then Durant shoots off the dribble. He pops out from the corner. Durant moves to the elbow. Then, near the key, where Fizdale instructs him to fake a pass to the corner and make a move to the basket.
Everything Durant does on the left side, he repeats on the right. On this night, it adds up to 120 shots from 18 spots. He steps to the foul line and shoots eight free throws, making six.
During a two-game stretch in late November, Durant made 11 of 16 from the foul line. At his next pregame workout, Durant, an 88 percent foul shooter, was determined to make 10 in a row to get back in rhythm. He swished nine straight. The 10th rimmed out. Durant turned in frustration. He lifted his black T-shirt, wiped his face and returned to the line. He made four and missed the fifth. Not good enough. On the third try, he made 10 in a row.
Durant finishes each session with a dunk. He slaps five with the assistants and managers and retreats to the locker room, ready for whatever the night brings. Fizdale says pregame development time is vital for young players, but it also can help veterans. Look at Durant, he said before a recent game.
“At 36 years old, he’s still getting better, as crazy as that sounds.”
(Top photo of Kevin Durant: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images; Video: Doug Haller / The Athletic)
A legendary NFL coach found linebacker Rod Martin not by scouting him at USC, but almost by accident.
The Oakland Raiders had a throwaway 12th-round pick in the 1977 draft, and then-coach John Madden grew frustrated hearing his personnel executives contemplate using it on a basketball player or track guy. Finally, Madden blurted out that he could find a random kid walking around the USC campus in sandals who could make more of an impact than that.
“Ron Wolf says, ‘All right, smart guy,’” recalled Madden’s son, Mike. “So they were a couple picks away and dad goes, ‘Let me call [USC coach] John Robinson.’”
Robinson had one question: Has Rod Martin been drafted?
Raiders linebacker Rod Martin stands on the field during a game against the Buffalo Bills on Dec. 6, 1987, at the Coliseum.
(Mike Powell / Getty Images)
“Dad goes, ‘What position does he play?’” the younger Madden said. “Robinson tells him Martin is a linebacker, and dad goes, ‘Good. Tough guy we can knock around in training camp. Have him run down on kicks.’ And Robinson says, ‘No, John. Rod Martin will make your team.’”
Martin did a lot more than make the team. He would go on to set a Super Bowl record with three interceptions in one of the most dominant defensive performances in championship history.
Martin, who would play his entire 12-year career with the Oakland then Los Angeles Raiders, is dead at age 72. The Raiders announced his death Monday but did not specify a cause of death.
“The Raiders family is deeply saddened by the passing of Rod Martin, a standout linebacker and key player on two Super Bowl championship teams,” read a team statement.
The franchise called Martin, “a beloved member of the Raiders Family and a favorite of Raiders fans everywhere.”
A two-time Super Bowl winner and a two-time Pro Bowl selection, Martin saved his best game for the biggest stage. In Super Bowl XV at the Louisiana Superdome, he intercepted Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski three times in a 27-10 Raiders victory.
“What I remember about Rod was his ability to diagnose and react,” Jaworski said by phone Monday. “In the Super Bowl, he makes two phenomenal plays. He has three interceptions, but interceptions one and two — I’d like to say they were bad decisions on my part. They weren’t. I tried to squeeze throws in. He just made a great play. He was a great athlete.”
Three years later, Martin was still a key component to the Raiders’ defense in a Super Bowl victory over Washington. He had a sack of quarterback Joe Theismann, a fumble recovery, and a fourth-and-one stop of John Riggins late in the third quarter of a 38-9 blowout.
Born in Welch, W. Va., the son of a coal miner grew up in Los Angeles and attended Hamilton High before going on to play at Los Angeles City College and USC. The NFL saw him as a tweener, too small for linebacker at 210 pounds and too slow to play safety. Clearly, that was a faulty assessment.
Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon was two years behind Martin at Hamilton, and the two remained friends throughout the decades that followed.
“We met when I was a sophomore,” Moon said. “He was a senior — middle linebacker, fullback and center on the basketball team. He was the ultimate athlete. At the time I was there, I looked up to him quite a lot.
“He wasn’t the biggest guy in the world, but he was big enough. He had the strongest hands and the strongest forearms. He could just take a tight end or whoever came to block him, grab his pads, shove him off and go make the play. He was just a real solid player.”
It was those hands that grabbed an opportunity with the Raiders and didn’t let go.
“So dad goes marching into the draft room,” Madden said, “looks at Ron and everybody else and says, ‘We’re going to take Rod Martin, linebacker, USC.’ And they did.”
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New details have emerged surrounding the arrest of former Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch, who is facing two misdemeanor charges following a run-in with law enforcement just days ahead of the NFL Draft.
Branch, who is a projected second-round pick, was arrested early Sunday morning in Athens, Georgia, and charged with two counts of obstructing public sidewalks/streets – prowling and obstruction of a law enforcement officer.
Georgia Bulldogs wide receiver Zachariah Branch celebrates after a touchdown catch against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Nov. 28, 2025. (Brett Davis/Imagn Images)
He was released after more than two hours in jail after posting $39 in bonds.
The NFL Network obtained the police report from Branch’s arrest, which described an encounter over an alleged sidewalk incident with law enforcement, in which police alleged that the former Bulldogs star failed “to comply with multiple verbal lawful commands.”
“A male, later identified as Zacharia Branch, continued to stand on the sidewalk without making an attempt to move. I continued to give Zacharia Branch verbal commands to move from blocking the sidewalk and advised that if he did not, he would receive a citation for blocking the sidewalk,” the excerpt from the report read.
Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch runs during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind., on Feb. 28, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
TOP NFL DRAFT PICK ZACHARIAH BRANCH ARRESTED IN GEORGIA ON TWO MISDEMEANOR CHARGES
“Zacharia Branch smirked, then stepped backwards and to the right, then remained standing upon the public sidewalk, so as to obstruct, hinder, and impede free passage upon the sidewalk as well as impede free ingress/egress to or from the adjacent places of business,” the report continued.
“Due to those actions and Zacharia Branch’s failure to comply with multiple verbal lawful commands, he was placed under arrest for misdemeanor Obstruction of LEO and received a citation for Obstructing Public Sidewalks.”
Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch celebrates with wide receiver Colbie Young after scoring a touchdown against Ole Miss during the Sugar Bowl at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La., on Jan. 1, 2026. (IMAGN)
Branch transferred after two seasons at Southern California and immediately became quarterback Gunner Stockton’s favorite target. He finished the season with a team-high 811 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns.
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His status as a projected second-round pick was bolstered after an impressive showing at the combine, where he clocked a 4.35-second 40-yard dash.
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For two-thirds of Sunday’s Long Beach Grand Prix, Alex Palou bided his time … waiting for the one break he needed.
It came in the form of a caution on the 58th lap, allowing him to overtake front-runner Felix Rosenqvist exiting pit lane and hold the lead the rest of the way, taking the checkered flag by 3.96 seconds for his third triumph in five IndyCar Series races this season and his first at Long Beach.
Right after being showered with applause and confetti at victory lane, the 29-year-old Spaniard thanked his crew, whose quick work on the last pit stop proved to be the difference.
“Everyone was coming in on that yellow and they did an incredible job,” he said. “We were either going to win it or not win right there.”
Rosenqvist settled for second and Scott Dixon, Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, was third.
It was the 11th win over the last 22 races dating to 2024 for the Barcelona native and the 22nd win of his career, tying Tony Bettenhausen and Emerson Fittipaldi. It also vaulted Palou to the top of the series standings as he chases his fourth series championship in a row and fifth overall. Palou won the opener March 1 in St. Petersburg (also a street course) and the fourth race March 29 in Alabama.
Palou led for only 32 of the 90 laps Sunday and acknowledged it would have been difficult to catch Rosenqvist if not for the stoppage.
“I wasn’t giving up but it would’ve been tough to get him today,” Palou acknowledged. “He was already three seconds ahead. I was happy with my car but I was struggling more on the soft tires than the hards so I’d say my chances were low. The feeling was great seeing all the open space coming out of pit lane because when you spend 60 laps behind a car it disturbs you. I tried to match him on soft tires but it wasn’t working.”
Alex Palou speeds through a curve of the track.
(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
In six starts at Long Beach, Palou never has finished lower than fifth.
There is little room to maneuver on the 1.968-mile course with 11 tight turns, but after starting in the third position next to defending champion Kyle Kirkwood, Palou managed to sneak past Pato O’Ward into second place heading into the first turn on Lap 2.
“Making that move on the straightaway was big because I knew it was one of our only chances to get a pass on Pato,” Palou said. “I got that good run on that last corner and he didn’t expect it.”
This year marked the 51st edition of the longest-running major street race in North America, which started in 1975 as part of the Formula 5000 Series, switched to the CART/Champ Car World Series in 1984 and joined the IndyCar Series in 2009.
The top four qualifiers started on softer, high-grip “alternate” tires to establish position while the rest of the grid started on harder, more durable “primaries” to manage degradation on the 110-degree track surface. Of the 25 starters, 24 completed the 177.12 miles.
“We were going to make the two-stop strategy work but didn’t know if it would be doable or not,” Palou added. “As soon as I saw I couldn’t get Felix it was all about patience, fuel and waiting for the right time. I owe this win to my team. Without that pit stop I probably wouldn’t be sitting here now. It only takes one mistake to go from second to seventh, but they’re great under pressure.”
Cars make their way down a straightaway during Long Beach Grand Prix.
(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
Past winners Will Power and Josef Newgarden moved into the top two positions after Rosenqvist pitted, but the Swede regained the lead when Newgarden pitted for the first time on Lap 37 and dropped back to 14th.
The first 45 laps were caution-free as Rosenqvist, Palou, Kirkwood, David Malukas and O’Ward held the top five spots. Newgarden’s chances declined upon discovering a flat spot on his left front tire, and he dropped back to 14th.
Rosenqvist’s three-second lead was erased when debris on the track exiting the Aquarium Fountain drew the only yellow flag all afternoon and narrowed the gap. Capitalizing on favorable pit position, Palou emerged from the lane just ahead of Rosenqvist.
Rosenqvist. who won the pole position with a lap time of 1 minute 7.4625 seconds in qualifying, had mixed emotions as the runner-up after leading for 51 laps with no win to show for it.
“You want to win when you have an opportunity, but I’m proud of today,” Rosenqvist said.
“We weren’t as good as Alex on the blacks … the last pit cycle was the defining moment. We had to come around 14, he had more of an opening, and his crew nailed it. That happens.”
Kirkwood, who was vying for his third win in four years, finished right where he started in fourth.
“I had a good cushion and figured even with a bad stop I’d probably stay ahead but I knew there’d probably be a yellow at some point and there it came,” Rosenqvist lamented. “Considering Alex had primary [tires], also I think we would’ve been able to hold him off. It’s definitely disappointing when you can’t wrap it up.”
Dixon, who started in the sixth position, was third and earned his first podium this season and the 136th of his career.
Fans watch with two laps left in the race.
(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
“The race itself was a bit blah — I sat in the same position for most of it,” Dixon said. “Luckily for us we had it easy out of that last stop.”
Al Unser Jr. holds the record for most wins at Long Beach, chalking up six in eight years, including an unmatched four in a row from 1988 to 1991.
Tom Sargent is becoming a fan of street circuits after two wins this weekend. Driving the Porsche 911 Cup for GMG Racing in the Mobil Pro Class, the 22-year-old Australian led from start to finish in Race 1 of the Carrera Cup North America on Saturday. In Race 2 on Sunday morning, he again started from the pole and claimed a 0.965-second victory over Aaron Jeansonne to complete the double.
In his last bid at Long Beach three years ago, he hit the wall on Lap 2 but still finished second.
“Momentum in sports is critical and the past few weeks have been really cool for me,” Sargent said. “I didn’t do any street circuit racing before I came to the States. Maybe it fits my driving style.”
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