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.”

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)