Kevin Durant eager to mentor fellow Warriors “rookie” Patrick McCaw

I can only imagine the thrill of getting a text from one of my favorite players. I don’t care how jaded your cold, dead insides are, but if Kevin Frickin’ Durant sends you a text message, it’s a pretty special moment.

Patrick McCaw, the Golden State Warriors’ rookie leading scorer from summer league (here he is going a little bit nuts in summer league, on the off chance you missed it), is apparently not cold and dead inside; just look at what he has to say about receiving the welcome text from KD, as reported by CSN from his interview with Bob Fitzgerald on KNBR:

“…I saw it was from Kevin Durant,” McCaw recalled this week. “I just froze for like 20 minutes. I just read it. I kept reading it over and over.”

In a story that should be familiar to anyone who follows the NBA, it appears as if Durant may be taking on a bit of a mentor role for McCaw. In an unusual twist though, even as he sets himself up as the mentor, Durant maintains his humility as he heads into his first season with the Warriors.

Although they attended the same high school, Durant and McCaw have taken completely different paths to the NBA. But Durant isn’t the type of guy to hold himself above anyone. And McCaw was kind enough to share some of what Durant had to say:

"Just telling me that we're both gonna be rookies coming to the Warriors, and he's gonna show me the ropes and things like that, and take me under his wing.

"It was great."

Not everyone comes breezing into the NBA as easily as Kevin Durant did. He was heavily recruited in high school, only played one year on college, and was then picked second in the NBA draft. His list of accomplishments is lengthy: Durant has won an MVP, four scoring titles, has been on six All-NBA teams, seven All-Star teams, won Rookie of the year, and two Olympic gold medals.

Patrick McCaw has not done any of that (yet).

Skinny like Durant, but without the built-in skill sets that make KD so lethal, McCaw was the sixth-ranked player on his AAU prep team, even after guiding his high school to a Division I title. In his sophomore season at UNLV, he led the Runnin’ Rebels in points, assists, steals, three-pointers and minutes. And yet he still slipped to the second round, picked by the Bucks at #38 (in the second round) and then acquired by the Warriors for $2.4 million.

Here is Steve Kerr, talking about rookie Kevin Durant Patrick McCaw

"I think he has a chance to contribute," head coach Steve Kerr, whose team opens training camp Sept. 27, said last month. "It's hard to do as a rookie, but I could see throwing him out there and him doing well."

I like McCaw’s attitude, and with Durant taking an interest, there’s no reason this young man can’t develop into something special here. Steve Kerr agrees. And apparently, so does Kevin Frickin’ Durant. That’s got to feel good!