Kevin Durant did all he could in Game 7 of the Brooklyn Nets’ loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night, including hitting the most bonkers clutch fadeaway with seconds ticking down to tie up the contest and send it to overtime.
His toes were undoubtedly on the line when he made that near-impossible shot, but NBA fans are wondering: just how close was he to being behind the line and turning the game-tying shot into what was all but likely the game-winner?
Let’s start with the photos of just how close this thing was. A close-up of his feet has been making the rounds on Twitter:
Kevin Durant was one shoe size away from winning the series. pic.twitter.com/k0FEv8c33f
— Adrian ³⁴ (@iEnVyAdrian) June 20, 2021
Kevin Durant was a shoe size away from a game winner smh 😭 pic.twitter.com/UlKQfFGJY1
— x⁶ (@xigett) June 20, 2021
My goodness. Here’s the thing: you might think that’s something out of his control. But! It turns out KD actually wears sneakers that are one size bigger than they should be. From a FiveThirtyEight interview in 2018:
Did you know: KD actually wears a full size bigger in games than his actual shoe size. From @Herring_NBA’s 2018 story about why KD’s shoes fall off all the time: pic.twitter.com/kKo2gthZR8
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) June 20, 2021
This is what Durant said about that toe being on the line:
KD thought he had the series-winning shot…
"…But my big-ass foot was on the line." pic.twitter.com/lUy9ycunMu
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) June 20, 2021
I don’t think that’s a one-shoe-size-smaller difference. But still!
So. Close. How nuts is that?
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