Chris Lofton and Tennessee Basketball Exposed Kevin Durant’s Choking Tendencies in 2006

Before Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors, Tennessee basketball exposed Kevin Durant as a choker when the Volunteers beat the Texas Longhorns in 2006.

Nearly 10 years ago, there was a little guard who had the best three-point shot in the country and used it to embarrass a 6’11” forward who could pull up from anywhere on the court. That forward was Kevin Durant, but the little guard was not Stephen Curry, and the league was not the NBA.

This was college basketball, and the guard was Chris Lofton. Curry had not yet even burst onto the scene with the Davidson Wildcats when this happened.

Playing for the Texas Longhorns and ironically head coach Rick Barnes, a 6’11” Durant was dropped off by a barely 6-foot guard in Chris Lofton from beyond 30 feet while he was fully extended. There was no reason for him to allow that shot to get off, but Lofton exposed him as a soft player then long before Curry did.

Many people saw Kevin Durant’s choke job with his partner in crime Russell Westbrook as the leader of the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals after blowing a 3-1 series lead to the Warriors. It was pathetic.

To Vols fans, Durant’s tendency to collapse down the stretch, allow big leads to evaporate, and shrink on defense should be nothing new due to this game.

Lots of choking led up to that shot by Lofton.

In December of 2006, Tennessee was led by Lofton and head coach Bruce Pearl. This game was a fight between two young teams trying to squeak into the Top 25. And behind Durant, the Longhorns built a 17-point second-half lead.

But Tennessee fought its way back, and down 83-76 with under four minutes to go, the Vols were lucky that Durant would go scoreless for three and a half minutes…down the stretch of a huge game for his team!

The highlight was Lofton exposing Durant as a choker on defense, but he choked down the stretch for his team and helped the Vols win because of his offensive shortcomings in the final three and a half minutes as well.

At the last second, Durant hit a clutch shot to send the game to overtime, but he got away with a massive charge to do that.

Then came overtime, and in a shootout that saw the Vols win the period 22-16 to win the game, only three of Texas’s points came from Durant, their leader and go-to scorer. D.J. Augustin was a much tougher player than Durant, the same way Westbrook is now for the Thunder.

Thanks to Durant’s choke job and some wizardry from Lofton, the Vols won a game that day they should have lost easily.

Who knew it was foreshadowing another choke job at the next level he would lead against a little guard who could shoot?