Daniel HuggettThe 2020-21 NBA season has been a comeback tour of sorts for Kevin Durant. After missing the entirety of the previous season with an Achilles injury, the Longhorn Legend looks to reclaim his spot as one of the most prolific players in the league while playing for a new team in a new conference. But despite these changes, Durant’s allegiance to his former college squad remains the same, as evidenced by the Texas KD13s recently worn by the superstar.
KD debuted these never-before-seen UT kicks in a matchup with Denver, which saw the Nets defeat the Nuggets by a score of 122 to 116. Durant continued wearing the Longhorn 13s in wins over the the New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, and Milwaukee Bucks, a stretch which saw KD average 33 points and take home Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors. This winning streak was snapped in a 2OT loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers, a game which curiously saw KD forgo wearing his burnt orange KD13s for an Oregon Ducks colorway of the aforementioned shoe.
These Longhorn 13s sport an unmistakably “Texas” color combination, pairing a burnt orange upper with a white midsole/outsole. This balance between UTs two primary colors is perhaps best exemplified by the split Nike Swooshes, which transitions from burnt orange to white from the upper into the midsole. White Longhorn and KD logos on the tongue and heel respectively round out clean, but classic UT colorway.
While we’ve seen the University of Texas basketball squads don a variety of Texas Longhorn KD13s this season, they have yet to wear this particular pair. It should also be noted that these differ from the burnt orange 13s that were made available for purchase on Eastbay.com towards the end of 2020, as that pair featured a different color blocking and no UT branding. Although there’s a chance we could see Longhorn basketball wear these in the coming months, for the moment this particular colorway appear to be exclusive to Mr. Durant himself.
This is also not the first time KD has worn a Texas colorway of his signature shoe in an NBA game. In 2019, KD wore a burnt orange pair of the Nike Nike KD11s in a match against the Sacramento Kings. Durant’s team won that contest as well, and it is interesting to note that he is currently undefeated while wearing UT themed sneakers in the NBA.
Like so many Longhorn KDs of late, these are currently a player exclusive and there is no word on a potential public release.
What are your thoughts on these Texas KD13s? Do you think Durant should continue wearing these for future games, or should he go with a different UT colorway in the future?
Images via @slamkicks and @brkicks
Add comment