name	Academy Award
alt	An Academy Award statuette, depicting a knight, rendered in Art Deco style, holding a crusader's sword
description	Excellence in cinematic achievements
presenter	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
country	United States
year	May 16, 1929
website	www.Oscars.org }}

An Academy Award, also known as the Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The formal ceremony at which the awards are presented is one of the most prominent award ceremonies in the world, and is televised live in more than 200 countries annually. It is also the oldest award ceremony in the media; its equivalents, the Grammy Awards (for music), Emmy Awards (for television), and Tony Awards (for theatre) are modeled after the Academy.

The AMPAS was originally conceived by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio boss Louis B. Mayer as a professional honorary organization to help improve the film industry’s image and help mediate labor disputes. The Oscar itself was later initiated by the Academy as an award "of merit for distinctive achievement" in the industry.

The first Academy Awards ceremony was held on May 16, 1929, at the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood to honor outstanding film achievements of the 1927/1928 film season. The most recent ceremony, honoring films in 2010, was held at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre on February 27, 2011.

History

The first awards were presented on May 16, 1929, at a private brunch at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post Academy Awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel. The cost of guest tickets for that night's ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other personalities of the filmmaking industry of the time for their works during the 1927–1928 period.

Winners had been announced three months earlier of their triumphs; however that was changed in the second ceremony of the Academy Awards in 1930. Since then and during the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11 pm on the night of the awards. This method was used until the ''Los Angeles Times'' announced the winners before the ceremony began; as a result, the Academy has used a sealed envelope to reveal the name of the winners since 1941.

For the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. For example, the 2nd Academy Awards presented on April 3, 1930, recognized films that were released between August 1, 1928 and July 31, 1929. Starting with the 7th Academy Awards, held in 1935, the period of eligibility became the full previous calendar year from January 1 to December 31.

The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in ''The Last Command'' and ''The Way of All Flesh''. He had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier; this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. The honored professionals were awarded for all the work done in a certain category for the qualifying period; for example, Emil Jannings received the award for two movies in which he starred during that period. Since the fourth ceremony, the system changed, and the professionals were honored for a specific performance in a single film. As of the 82nd Academy Awards ceremony held in 2010, a total of 2,789 Oscars have been given for 1,825 awards. A total of 302 actors have won Oscars in competitive acting categories or been awarded Honorary or Juvenile Awards.

The 1939 film ''Beau Geste'' is the only movie that features as many as four Academy Award winners for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, Susan Hayward, Broderick Crawford) prior to any of the actors receiving the Best Actor Award.

At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27, 1957, the Best Foreign Language Film category was introduced. Until then, foreign language films were honored with the Special Achievement Award.

Oscar statuette

Design

Although there are seven other types of awards presented by the Academy (the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, the Gordon E. Sawyer Award, the Scientific and Engineering Award, the Technical Achievement Award, the John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation, and the Student Academy Award), the best known one is the ''Academy Award of Merit'' more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. Made of gold-plated britannium on a black metal base, it is 13.5 in (34 cm) tall, weighs 8.5 lb (3.85 kg) and depicts a knight rendered in Art Deco style holding a crusader's sword standing on a reel of film with five spokes. The five spokes each represent the original branches of the Academy: Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers, and Technicians.

MGM's art director Cedric Gibbons, one of the original Academy members, supervised the design of the award trophy by printing the design on a scroll. In need of a model for his statuette Gibbons was introduced by his then wife Dolores del Río to Mexican film director and actor Emilio "El Indio" Fernández. Reluctant at first, Fernández was finally convinced to pose nude to create what today is known as the "Oscar". Then, sculptor George Stanley (who also did the Muse Fountain at the Hollywood Bowl) sculpted Gibbons's design in clay and Sachin Smith cast the statuette in 92.5 percent tin and 7.5 percent copper and then gold-plated it. The only addition to the Oscar since it was created is a minor streamlining of the base. The original Oscar mold was cast in 1928 at the C.W. Shumway & Sons Foundry in Batavia, Illinois, which also contributed to casting the molds for the Vince Lombardi Trophy and Emmy Awards statuettes. Since 1983, approximately 50 Oscars are made each year in Chicago by Illinois manufacturer R.S. Owens & Company.

In support of the American effort in World War II, the statuettes were made of plaster and were traded in for gold ones after the war had ended.

Naming

The root of the name ''Oscar'' is contested. One biography of Bette Davis claims that she named the Oscar after her first husband, band leader Harmon Oscar Nelson; one of the earliest mentions in print of the term ''Oscar'' dates back to a ''Time'' magazine article about the 1934 6th Academy Awards. Walt Disney is also quoted as thanking the Academy for his Oscar as early as 1932. Another claimed origin is that the Academy's Executive Secretary, Margaret Herrick, first saw the award in 1931 and made reference to the statuette's reminding her of her "Uncle Oscar" (a nickname for her cousin Oscar Pierce). Columnist Sidney Skolsky was present during Herrick's naming and seized the name in his byline, "Employees have affectionately dubbed their famous statuette 'Oscar'". The trophy was officially dubbed the "Oscar" in 1939 by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Another legend reports that the Norwegian-American Eleanor Lilleberg, executive secretary to Louis B. Mayer, saw the first statuette and exclaimed, "It looks like King Oscar II!". At the end of the day she asked, "What should we do with Oscar, put him in the vault?" and the name stuck.

Ownership of Oscar statuettes

Since 1950, the statuettes have been legally encumbered by the requirement that neither winners nor their heirs may sell the statuettes without first offering to sell them back to the Academy for US$1. If a winner refuses to agree to this stipulation, then the Academy keeps the statuette. Academy Awards not protected by this agreement have been sold in public auctions and private deals for six-figure sums.

While the Oscar is under the ownership of the recipient, it is essentially not on the open market. The case of Michael Todd's grandson trying to sell Todd's Oscar statuette illustrates that there are some who do not agree with this idea. When Todd's grandson attempted to sell Todd's Oscar statuette to a movie prop collector, the Academy won the legal battle by getting a permanent injunction. Although Oscar sales transactions have been successful, some buyers have subsequently returned the statuettes to the Academy, which keeps them in its treasury.

Nomination

Since 2004, Academy Award nomination results have been announced to the public in late January. Prior to 2004, nomination results were announced publicly in early February.

Voters

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), a professional honorary organization, maintains a voting membership of 5,835 as of 2007.

Academy membership is divided into different branches, with each representing a different discipline in film production. Actors constitute the largest voting bloc, numbering 1,311 members (22 percent) of the Academy's composition. Votes have been certified by the auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (and its predecessor Price Waterhouse) for the past 73 annual awards ceremonies.

All AMPAS members must be invited to join by the Board of Governors, on behalf of Academy Branch Executive Committees. Membership eligibility may be achieved by a competitive nomination or a member may submit a name based on other significant contribution to the field of motion pictures.

New membership proposals are considered annually. The Academy does not publicly disclose its membership, although as recently as 2007 press releases have announced the names of those who have been invited to join. The 2007 release also stated that it has just under 6,000 voting members. While the membership had been growing, stricter policies have kept its size steady since then.

Rules

Currently, according to Rules 2 and 3 of the official Academy Awards Rules, a film must open in the previous calendar year, from midnight at the start of January 1 to midnight at the end of December 31, in Los Angeles County, California, to qualify (except for the Best Foreign Language Film). For example, the 2010 Best Picture winner, ''The Hurt Locker'', was actually first released in 2008, but did not qualify for the 2009 awards as it did not play its Oscar-qualifying run in Los Angeles until mid-2009, thus qualifying for the 2010 awards.

Rule 2 states that a film must be feature-length, defined as a minimum of 40 minutes, except for short subject awards, and it must exist either on a 35 mm or 70 mm film print or in 24 frame/s or 48 frame/s progressive scan digital cinema format with native resolution not less than 1280x720.

Producers must submit an Official Screen Credits online form before the deadline; in case it is not submitted by the defined deadline, the film will be ineligible for Academy Awards in any year. The form includes the production credits for all related categories. Then, each form is checked and put in a Reminder List of Eligible Releases.

In late December ballots and copies of the Reminder List of Eligible Releases are mailed to around 6000 active members. For most categories, members from each of the branches vote to determine the nominees only in their respective categories (i.e. only directors vote for directors, writers for writers, actors for actors, etc.); there are some exceptions though in the case of certain categories, like Foreign Film, Documentary and Animated Feature Film in which movies are selected by special screening committees made up of members from all branches. In the special case of Best Picture, all voting members are eligible to select the nominees for that category. Foreign films must include English subtitles, and each country can only submit one film per year.

The members of the various branches nominate those in their respective fields while all members may submit nominees for Best Picture. The winners are then determined by a second round of voting in which all members are then allowed to vote in most categories, including Best Picture.

Ceremony

Telecast

The major awards are presented at a live televised ceremony, most commonly in February or March following the relevant calendar year, and six weeks after the announcement of the nominees. It is the culmination of the film awards season, which usually begins during November or December of the previous year. This is an elaborate extravaganza, with the invited guests walking up the red carpet in the creations of the most prominent fashion designers of the day. Black tie dress is the most common outfit for men, although fashion may dictate not wearing a bow-tie, and musical performers sometimes do not adhere to this. (The artists who recorded the nominees for Best Original Song quite often perform those songs live at the awards ceremony, and the fact that they are performing is often used to promote the television broadcast).

The Academy Awards is televised live across the United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii), Canada, the United Kingdom, and gathers millions of viewers elsewhere throughout the world. The 2007 ceremony was watched by more than 40 million Americans. Other awards ceremonies (such as the Emmys, Golden Globes, and Grammys) are broadcast live in the East Coast but are on tape delay in the West Coast and might not air on the same day outside North America (if the awards are even televised). The Academy has for several years claimed that the award show has up to a billion viewers internationally, but this has so far not been confirmed by any independent sources. The Awards show was first televised on NBC in 1953. NBC continued to broadcast the event until 1960 when the ABC Network took over, televising the festivities through 1970, after which NBC resumed the broadcasts. ABC once again took over broadcast duties in 1976; it is under contract to do so through the year 2020.

After more than sixty years of being held in late March or early April, the ceremonies were moved up to late February or early March starting in 2004 to help disrupt and shorten the intense lobbying and ad campaigns associated with Oscar season in the film industry. Another reason was because of the growing TV ratings success of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, which would cut into the Academy Awards audience. The earlier date is also to the advantage of ABC, as it now usually occurs during the highly profitable and important February sweeps period. (Some years, the ceremony is moved into early March in deference to the Winter Olympics.) Advertising is somewhat restricted, however, as traditionally no movie studios or competitors of official Academy Award sponsors may advertise during the telecast. The Awards show holds the distinction of having won the most Emmys in history, with 47 wins and 195 nominations.

After many years of being held on Mondays at 9:00 p.m. Eastern/6:00 p.m Pacific, in 1999 the ceremonies were moved to Sundays at 8:30 p.m. Eastern/5:30 p.m. Pacific. The reasons given for the move were that more viewers would tune in on Sundays, that Los Angeles rush-hour traffic jams could be avoided, and that an earlier start time would allow viewers on the East Coast to go to bed earlier. For many years the film industry had opposed a Sunday broadcast because it would cut into the weekend box office.

On March 30, 1981, the awards ceremony was postponed for one day after the shooting of President Ronald Reagan and others in Washington, D.C.

In 1993, an ''In Memoriam'' segment was introduced, honoring those who had made a significant contribution to cinema who had died in the preceding 12 months, a selection compiled by a small committee of Academy members. This segment has drawn criticism over the years for the omission of some names.

In 2010, the organizers of the Academy Awards announced that winners' acceptance speeches must not run past 45 seconds. This, according to organizer Bill Mechanic, was to ensure the elimination of what he termed "the single most hated thing on the show" – overly long and embarrassing displays of emotion.

The Academy has also had recent discussions about moving the ceremony even further back into January, citing TV viewers' fatigue with the film industry's long awards season. But such an accelerated schedule would dramatically decrease the voting period for its members, to the point where some voters would only have time to view the contending films streamed on their computers. Also, a January ceremony may have to compete with National Football League playoff games.

Past ceremonies and ratings

The following is a listing of all Academy Awards ceremonies and ratings since 1929.

Historically, the "Oscarcast" has pulled in a bigger haul when box-office hits are favored to win the Best Picture trophy. More than 57.25 million viewers tuned to the telecast for the 70th Academy Awards in 1998, the year of ''Titanic'', which generated close to US$600 million at the North American box office pre-Oscars. The 76th Academy Awards ceremony in which ''The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' (pre-telecast box office earnings of US$368 million) received 11 Awards including Best Picture drew 43.56 million viewers. The most watched ceremony based on Nielsen ratings to date, however, was the 42nd Academy Awards (Best Picture ''Midnight Cowboy'') which drew a 43.4% household rating on April 7, 1970.

By contrast, ceremonies honoring films that have not performed well at the box office tend to show weaker ratings. The 78th Academy Awards which awarded low-budgeted, independent film ''Crash'' (with a pre-Oscar gross of US$53.4 million) generated an audience of 38.64 million with a household rating of 22.91%. In 2008, the 80th Academy Awards telecast was watched by 31.76 million viewers on average with an 18.66% household rating, the lowest rated and least watched ceremony to date, in spite of celebrating 80 years of the Academy Awards. The Best Picture winner of that particular ceremony was another low-budget, independently financed film (''No Country for Old Men'').

Venues

In 1929, the first Academy Awards were presented at a banquet dinner at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. From 1930–1943, the awards were presented first at the Ambassador Hotel in Hollywood. Then the Oscar ceremonies were held at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles from 1930 to 1943.

Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood then hosted the awards from 1944 to 1946, followed by the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles from 1947 to 1948. The 21st Academy Awards in 1949 were held at the Academy Award Theater at what was the Academy's headquarters on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood.

From 1950 to 1960, the awards were presented at Hollywood's Pantages Theatre. With the advent of television, the 1953–1957 awards took place simultaneously in Hollywood and New York first at the NBC International Theatre (1953) and then at the NBC Century Theatre (1954–1957), after which the ceremony took place solely in Los Angeles. The Oscars moved to the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California in 1961. By 1969, the Academy decided to move the ceremonies back to Los Angeles, this time to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Los Angeles County Music Center.

In 2002, Hollywood's Kodak Theatre became the permanent home of the award ceremonies.

Academy Awards of merit

Current awards

Best Actor in a Leading Role: 1928 to present

Best Actor in a Supporting Role: 1936 to present

Best Actress in a Leading Role: 1928 to present

Best Actress in a Supporting Role: 1936 to present

Best Animated Film: 2001 to present

Best Animated Short Film: 1931 to present

Best Art Direction: 1928 to present

Best Cinematography: 1928 to present

Best Costume Design: 1948 to present

Best Director: 1928 to present

Best Documentary Feature: 1943 to present

Best Documentary Short Subject: 1941 to present

Best Film Editing: 1935 to present

Best Foreign Language Film: 1947 to present

Best Live Action Short Film: 1931 to present

Best Makeup: 1981 to present

Best Original Score: 1934 to present

Best Original Song: 1934 to present

Best Picture: 1928 to present

Best Sound Editing: 1963 to present

Best Sound Mixing: 1930 to present

Best Visual Effects: 1939 to present

Best Adapted Screenplay: 1928 to present

Best Original Screenplay: 1940 to present

In the first year of the awards, the Best Director award was split into two separate categories (Drama and Comedy). At times, the Best Original Score award has also been split into separate categories (Drama and Comedy/Musical). From the 1930s through the 1960s, the Art Direction, Cinematography, and Costume Design awards were likewise split into two separate categories (black-and-white films and color films).

Another award, entitled the Academy Award for Best Original Musical, is still in the Academy rulebooks and has yet to be retired. However, due to continuous insufficient eligibility each year, it has not been awarded since 1984 (when ''Purple Rain'' won).

Retired awards

Best Assistant Director: 1933 to 1937

Best Dance Direction: 1935 to 1937

Best Engineering Effects: 1928 only

Best Original Musical or Comedy Score: 1995 to 1999

Best Original Story: 1928 to 1956

Best Score – Adaptation or Treatment: 1962 to 1969; 1973

Best Short Film – Color: 1936 and 1937

Best Short Film – Live Action – 2 Reels: 1936 to 1956

Best Short Film – Novelty: 1932 to 1935

Best Title Writing: 1928 only

Best Unique and Artistic Quality of Production: 1928 only

Proposed awards

The Board of Governors meets each year and considers new awards. To date, the following proposed awards have not been approved:

Best Casting: rejected in 1999 Best Stunt Coordination: rejected in 1999; rejected in 2005 Best Title Design: rejected in 1999

Special Academy Awards

These awards are voted on by special committees, rather than by the Academy membership as a whole, but the individual selected to receive the special award may decline the offer. They are not always presented on a consistent annual basis.

Current special awards

Academy Honorary Award: 1929 to present

Academy Scientific and Technical Award: 1931 to present

Gordon E. Sawyer Award: 1981 to present

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: 1956 to present

Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award: 1938 to present

Retired special awards

Academy Juvenile Award: 1934 to 1960

Academy Special Achievement Award: 1972 to 1995

Criticism

Due to the positive exposure and prestige of the Academy Awards, studios spend millions of dollars and hire publicists specifically to promote their films during what is typically called the "Oscar season." This has generated accusations of the Academy Awards being influenced more by marketing than quality. William Friedkin, an Academy Award-winning film director and former producer of the ceremony, expressed this sentiment at a conference in New York in 2009, describing it as "the greatest promotion scheme that any industry ever devised for itself."

In addition, some winners critical of the Academy Awards have boycotted the ceremonies and refused to accept their Oscars. The first to do so was Dudley Nichols (Best Writing in 1935 for ''The Informer''). Nichols boycotted the 8th Academy Awards ceremony because of conflicts between the Academy and the Writer's Guild. George C. Scott became the second person to refuse his award (Best Actor in 1970 for ''Patton'') at the 43rd Academy Awards ceremony. Scott described it as a 'meat parade', saying 'I don't want any part of it." The third winner, Marlon Brando, refused his award (Best Actor in 1972 for ''The Godfather''), citing the film industry's discrimination and mistreatment of Native Americans. At the 45th Academy Awards ceremony, Brando sent Sacheen Littlefeather to read a 15-page speech detailing his criticisms.

It has been observed that several of the Academy Award winners – particularly Best Picture – have not stood the test of time or defeated worthier efforts. Tim Dirks, editor of AMC's filmsite.org, has written of the Academy Awards,

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Best Picture is not the only category to come under criticism. In his review of ''The Lives of Others'', Nick Davis argued,

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Acting prizes in certain years have been criticized for not recognizing superior performances so much as being awarded for sentimental reasons, personal popularity, atonement for past mistakes, or presented as a "career honor" to recognize a distinguished nominee's entire body of work.

Associated events

The following events are closely associated with the annual Academy Awards ceremony:

Governors Awards

The 25th Independent Spirit Awards (in 2010), usually held in Santa Monica the Saturday before the Oscars, marked the first time it was moved to a Friday and a change of venue to L.A. Live, the newly built entertainment complex developed in Downtown Los Angeles.

The 8th annual "Night Before", traditionally held at the Beverly Hills Hotel (eight years running in 2010) and generally known as ''THE'' party of the season, benefits the Motion Picture and Television Fund, which operates a retirement home for SAG actors in the San Fernando Valley.

Elton John's AIDS fundraiser viewing party airs the awards live at the nearby Pacific Design Center.

The Governors' Ball is the Academy's official after-party, including dinner, and is held adjacent to the awards-presentation venue.

The Vanity Fair after-party, historically held at the former Morton's restaurant, is now for the 2nd year at the Sunset Towers.

See also

Academy Awards pre-show

Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Award Party

Golden Raspberry Award

List of Academy Award records

List of Academy Award-winning films

List of Academy Awards ceremonies

List of Academy Award trophies on public display

List of actors who have appeared in multiple Best Picture Academy Award winners

List of Asian Academy Award winners and nominees

List of Australian Academy Award winners and nominees

List of Big Five Academy Award winners and nominees

List of Black Academy Award winners and nominees

List of British and Commonwealth Academy Award winners and nominees

List of English Academy Award nominees and winners

List of fictitious Academy Award nominees

List of foreign language films nominated for Academy Awards

List of French Academy Award winners and nominees

Lists of Hispanic Academy Award winners and nominees by country

List of Italian Academy Award winners and nominees

List of Latin American Academy Award winners and nominees

List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees

List of people who have won multiple Academy Awards in a single year

List of Polish Academy Award winners and nominees

List of posthumous Academy Award winners and nominees

List of presenters of Best Picture Academy Award

List of Scandinavian Academy Award winners and nominees

List of superlative Academy Award winners and nominees

List of years in film

Oscar season

Notes

References

Brokaw, Lauren (2010). "Wanna see an Academy Awards invite? We got it along with all the major annual events surrounding the Oscars". Los Angeles: The Daily Truffle.

Gail, K., and Piazza, J. (2002). ''The Academy Awards: The Complete History of Oscar.'' Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc. ISBN 1-57912-240-X.

Levy, Emanuel (2003). ''All About Oscar: The History and Politics of the Academy Awards.'' New York: Continuum. ISBN 0-8264-1452-4.

Wright, Jon (2007). ''The Lunacy of Oscar: The Problems with Hollywood's Biggest Night''. Thomas Publishing, Inc.

External links

Oscars.org—official Academy site

Oscar.com—official Academy Award ceremony site

"Oscar Greats" at ''Time'' magazine

Category:Academy Awards Category:American film awards Category:Article Feedback Pilot Category:Awards established in 1929

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name	Deron Williams
position	Point guard
height ft	6
height in	3
weight lb	209
team	Beşiktaş
team link	Beşiktaş men's basketball team
nationality	American
birth date	June 26, 1984
birth place	Parkersburg, West Virginia
highschool	The Colony
college	Illinois (2002–2005)
draft round	1
draft pick	3
draft year	2005
draft team	Utah Jazz
career start	2005
years1	2005–2011 | team1 Utah Jazz
years2	2011 | team2 New Jersey Nets
years3	2011–present | team3 Beşiktaş (Turkey)
highlights	2× NBA All-Star (–) 2× All-NBA Second Team (, ) NBA All-Rookie First Team () Skills Challenge Champion () }}

Deron Michael Williams ( ) (born June 26, 1984), nicknamed D-Will, is an American basketball player currently with Beşiktaş of the Turkish Basketball League. Prior to playing for Beşiktaş, Williams played for the Utah Jazz and the New Jersey Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is still under contract with the Nets, but he signed with Beşiktaş because of the 2011 NBA lockout. Williams was drafted 3rd overall in the 2005 draft by the Utah Jazz, for whom he played before being traded in the middle of his sixth season to the Nets. He is a two-time All-Star and a gold medal winner at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Williams played college basketball at the University of Illinois.

Early life and high school athletics

In elementary school and middle school, Williams won two state wrestling championships. In 1993, as an eight-year-old, he won the 67 lb. weight class Texas State championship. Four years later in 1997, he won the twelve-year-old 116 lb. weight class championship. Williams attended The Colony High School in The Colony, Texas and averaged 17 points, 9.4 assists, and 2 steals per game as a junior in 2001. That year he led his team, the Cougars, to a 32–2 record and the Class 5A state semifinals against Bryan High. In 2002, as a senior, he averaged 17.6 points, 8.5 assists, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.6 steals per game. His team, the Cougars, went 29–2 that season, losing the 5A Texas State semifinals. Williams was a teammate of Bracey Wright who went on to play for Big Ten rival Indiana University.

College

Williams was recruited to play college basketball at the University of Illinois for the 2002–03 NCAA season. In his freshman year, he started 30 of 32 games and ranked third in the Big Ten Conference in assists with 4.53 per game.

Bruce Weber assumed the head coach position for the Illini in April 2003 and helped develop Williams throughout his remaining collegiate career. As a sophomore, Williams improved his scoring average from 6.3 to 14.0 points per game and improved his assists per game from the prior year to 6.17. Williams was a First-Team All-Big Ten selection by both the coaches and media.

In 2005, as a junior starting point guard, Williams led the Fighting Illini to the NCAA championship game where they lost to the University of North Carolina. That season saw the Illini go undefeated until the final game of the regular season, when they lost to Ohio State by one point. Illinois's road to the Final Four was marked by a comeback win over the Arizona Wildcats, where the Illini, led by Williams, came back from fifteen points down in the final minutes to win the game. Williams made the game-tying three-point shot with just 38.5 seconds left in regulation. He then hit the go-ahead three-pointer in overtime, and the Illini never looked back in that game.

Williams received many awards after the 2004–05 season. Those honors include being named a consensus Second Team All American, as well as being named First Team All-Big Ten, Big Ten All-Tournament Team, and All-Final Four team. Williams was also a finalist for the Wooden Award and was named Most Outstanding Player of the Chicago Regional in the NCAA Tournament. Williams was named First-Team All-Big Ten as a sophomore in 2004 and as a junior in 2005, the year in which Williams, called by coach Bruce Weber "the MVP of the team", led the Illini to the Final Four. The team included four other future NBA players, including Dee Brown, Roger Powell, James Augustine, and Luther Head.

Williams declared for the NBA Draft after the 2005 season, forgoing his final year of collegiate eligibility.

College statistics

30 30 39 >101

College	! GP !! GS !! PPG !! RPG !! APG !! SPG !! BPG !! FG%!! FT%!! 3P%
Illinois	2002-03	32	|	6.3	3.0	4.5	1.4	0.2	.426	.533	.354
Illinois	2003-04	30	|	14.0	3.2	6.2	1.0	0.3	.408	.787	.394
Illinois	2004-05	39	|	12.6	3.6	6.8	1.0	0.2	.433	.677	.364
Career		|	99	11.0	3.3	5.9	1.1	0.2	.422	.685	.374

NBA career

Rookie season

Following the season, Williams declared for the 2005 NBA Draft. The Utah Jazz selected Williams with the third overall selection, after Andrew Bogut and Marvin Williams. He started the season coming off the bench, eventually moved into the role of starting point guard, and was later sent back to the bench. Williams finished his rookie season averaging 10.8 points and 4.5 assists per game, in 80 games played. Williams was rewarded by being named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, as well as being the only other rookie besides Chris Paul to receive a first-place vote in the 2005–06 NBA Rookie of the Year voting (Williams received one first-place vote, from Jazz color commentator Ron Boone). Williams and Chris Paul have shared a friendly rivalry that began after the 2005 NBA Draft, where Williams and Paul were the third and fourth selections overall. Whether Williams or Paul is the superior point guard is the subject of frequent debate among sports writers and fans.

2006–07 season

Williams began the 2006–07 season as the starting point guard for the Jazz. The Jazz started the season with a 12–1 record. This record was the best in team history and in the league. During these first 13 games of the season Williams played remarkably well, delivering five double-doubles. Two of these double-doubles were back-to-back performances of 26/14 and 27/15 (points/assists). Both of these assists totals bested his previous career high. In the second of those two games, he also had a career high in steals, with five. On January 17, 2007, in a game against the Detroit Pistons, he recorded a career high 31 points. A few days later, on January 24, he recorded a career high 21 assists in a game against the Memphis Grizzlies. In his second season, his numbers improved in almost all categories, increasing to 16.2 points and 9.3 assists per game (second only to Steve Nash in the NBA). The Jazz improved to post a 51–31 record, winning the Northwest Division title.

2007 Playoffs

The playoffs ended a three-year playoff drought for the Jazz, and in the first round, they faced the Houston Rockets. Williams scored in double figures in each of the seven games in the series, including a 14 assist, 20 point double-double on May 5 to close out the series. The Jazz won the series 4–3, beating the Rockets in Houston to complete the series. It was their first playoff series victory since 2000.

In the second round, Williams and the Jazz faced the Golden State Warriors, the eighth-seeded team that had upset the top seeded Dallas Mavericks 4–2 in the first round. Williams started off the series strong, posting double-doubles in two of the first four games as the Jazz jumped out to a 3–1 series lead. In the fifth game, Williams was plagued by foul problems and struggled from the floor, hitting only one of eleven shots from the field and scoring just two points. However, despite Williams's poor performance, the Jazz posted a 100–87 victory, sending the Jazz to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 1998 and the John Stockton and Karl Malone era.

The Jazz faced the eventual NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs in the conference finals, a team led by Tim Duncan who had posted three NBA championships since 1999. Williams played his best basketball of the season in the first three games, averaging nine assists and over thirty points over that span. Spurs guard Tony Parker recognized Williams' effort after the Jazz won game three 109–83.

Spurs forward Bruce Bowen also highlighted Williams' skills, as he compared Williams to the previous Jazz All-Star guard John Stockton.

2007–08 season

Deron Williams again elevated his play during his third season in the NBA. He scored a career high 41 points on December 8, 2007 in a game against the Dallas Mavericks, although they ended up losing the game. He also had two 20-assist games on the season. He elevated all of his stats, improving to 18.8 points and 10.5 assists per game, third in the league behind Chris Paul and Steve Nash. Despite his strong performance during the season, he was not selected to represent the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game, as the point guard position was filled by Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, and Chris Paul. Although he did not participate in the main event, he won the 2008 All-Star Skills Challenge.

Much was made of Williams's new leadership role on the team, and how he calls the majority of the plays on the team instead of coach Jerry Sloan, something not even John Stockton did. In March, Deron dished 212 assists, the most by any NBA player in any month since John Stockton in January 1992. The Jazz again won the Northwest Division and the four seed, this time with a 54–28 record, and again faced a Houston Rockets team that had home-court advantage in the first round. However, the Jazz won the first two games in Houston and went on to win the series in six games. In the second round, the Jazz lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games. Williams was the leading scorer for the Jazz in the 2008 playoffs.

Deron was selected as a member of the USA Olympic team for the Beijing Olympics on June 23, 2008. The team went unbeaten on the way to winning back the gold medal after defeating 2006 World Champion Spain and living up to their "Redeem Team" moniker after missing out in the 2004 Summer Olympics.

2008–09 season

Deron Williams missed thirteen of the first fifteen games of the season due to a second-degree ankle sprain sustained in the preseason against the Chicago Bulls. He returned November 26 against the Memphis Grizzlies. Since that time, he has led the team through an up-and-down season plagued by injuries to several key players (most notably Carlos Boozer and Andrei Kirilenko), but despite averaging 19.2 ppg and 10.0 apg through the All-Star Break, he was again snubbed from the All-Star Game. Similar to the previous year, he responded to the snub with strong play, scoring 30+ points in five consecutive games before the break (he missed one additional game during this time due to a minor injury) and leading the team to a 5–2 record to close out the first half of the season, including a win over the league-leading Los Angeles Lakers to snap their seven-game winning streak. They followed the All-Star Break with a win against the defending champion Boston Celtics.

On March 1, 2009, Deron Williams became the second active player (Steve Nash being the other) to reach 20 or more assists in at least four games in their career.

2009–10 season

On December 14, 2009, Williams was named the Western Conference Player of the Week. A week after his teammate and pick and roll partner Carlos Boozer, was named The Western Conference Player of the Week. The Jazz hadn't had consecutive Western Conference Player of the Week Awards since 1997, when Karl Malone won it back to back.

On January 28, 2010, Williams was named to participate in the 2010 NBA All-Star Game at Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas. This marked his All-Star debut. He was also invited to participate in the 2010 NBA Skills Challenge where he finished second to Steve Nash.

Despite being overshadowed by other point guards Chris Paul and Steve Nash prior to the 2009-2010 season, for allstar recognition, notable basketball analyst and former player Kenny Smith, and analyst and Hall of Fame player Charles Barkley proclaimed Deron Williams to be the best point guard in the NBA.

2010 playoffs

Despite playing with injuries to his wrist and ankle, and playing without starters Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur, Deron Williams became just the second player in Utah Jazz history to record at least 30 points and 10 or more assists in a playoff game. John Stockton is the only other Jazz player to accomplish said feat, doing so twice in his career. Williams scored 33 points on 7-14 shooting from the field while making 16-18 free throws from the line, while also contributing 14 assists on the road in a game 2 win against the Denver Nuggets. He repeated that feat later in series while scoring 34 points and dishing out 10 assists.

On April 28, Deron Williams became the first player in NBA history to record at least 20 points and 10 or more assists in five straight games in a playoff series. Williams points/assists through the first five games, in order, were 26/11, 33/14, 24/10, 24/13, and 34/10.

2010–11 season

After Sloan resigned mid-season on February 7, 2011, he denied reports that conflicts with Williams forced him to leave. "I forced myself out," Sloan responded. Williams acknowledged he had a disagreement with Sloan during the previous night's game, but he added, "I would never force coach Sloan out of Utah. He's meant more to this town, more to this organization than I have by far. I would have asked out of Utah first."

On February 23, 2011 Williams was traded to the New Jersey Nets for guard Devin Harris, forward Derrick Favors, two first round draft picks, and $3 million in cash. While Williams was under contract through with a player option worth $17.7 million for , Jazz chief executive officer Greg Miller did not believe they would be able to re-sign Williams. "And while I never saw any indication that he wouldn’t re-sign with us, I never saw any indication he would,” said Miller.

Williams' acquisition gives the Nets someone to build around when the team makes the transition to Brooklyn. Though playing with a 3 year old wrist injury that progressively got worse and now causes him severe pain, Williams' impact on the Nets was immediately apparent in just 12 games, as a team the Nets were one of highest scoring teams post all-star break and Williams averaged 12.8 APG as a Net. His 47 assists were an NBA record for a player in his first 3 games with a new team and no Net before him recorded double doubles in their first 5 games with the team. On April 11, 2011, Williams had wrist surgery on his right wrist although he was initially hesitant to having it. "I was angry and tried to tell the doctors that I didn't want to have the surgery," Williams said. "The two doctors had me outvoted, two against one. I couldn't do anything about it. They told me that there was no reason to postpone it and if I didn't have it, I would be dealing with the same pain again."

2011 NBA lockout

During the 2011 NBA lockout, Williams signed a one-year contract for $5 million net income to play for Beşiktaş of the Turkish Basketball League, to play in the second-tier level of pan-European professional basketball, the Eurocup (the level below the Euroleague level). His contract allows him to return to the NBA with the Nets when the work stoppage ends. Beşiktaş was the same team that signed Allen Iverson in 2010. Because Williams is still under an NBA contract, he required clearance from FIBA in order to play elsewhere.

Awards and honors

}} NBA All-Star: 2010, 2011

All-NBA Team:

:*Second Team: 2008, 2010

NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2006

NBA Skills Challenge Champion: 2008

Gold medal with Team USA, FIBA Americas Championship 2007

Gold medal with Team USA, 2008 Summer Olympic Games

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2005–06 | style="text-align:left;"| Utah | 80 || 47 || 28.8 || .421 || .416 || .704 || 2.4 || 4.5 || .8 || .2 || 10.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2006–07 | style="text-align:left;"| Utah | 80 || 80 || 36.9 || .456 || .322 || .767 || 3.3 || 9.3 || 1.0 || .2 || 16.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2007–08 | style="text-align:left;"| Utah | 82 || 82 || 37.3 || .507 || .395 || .803 || 3.0 || 10.5 || 1.1 || .3 || 18.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2008–09 | style="text-align:left;"| Utah | 68 || 68 || 36.8 || .471 || .310 || .849 || 2.9 || 10.7 || 1.1 || .3 || 19.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2009–10 | style="text-align:left;"| Utah | 76 || 76 || 36.9 || .469 || .371 || .801 || 4.0 || 10.5 || 1.3 || .2 || 18.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2010–11 | style="text-align:left;"| Utah | 53 || 53 || 37.9 || .458 || .345 || .853 || 3.9 || 9.7 || 1.2 || .2 || 21.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2010–11 | style="text-align:left;"| New Jersey | 12 || 12 || 38.0 || .349 || .271 || .793 || 4.6 || 12.8 || 1.2 || .2 || 15.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 451 || 418 || 35.7 || .463 || .355 || .808 || 3.2 || 9.2 || 1.1 || .2 || 17.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| All-Star | style="text-align:left;"| | 2 || 0 || 23.0 || .444 || .429 || .000 || 3.0 || 6.5 || 2.5 || 1.0 || 9.5

Playoffs

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2007 | style="text-align:left;"| Utah | 17 || 17 || 38.6 || .452 || .333 || .790 || 4.3 || 8.6 || 1.5 || 0.2 || 19.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2008 | style="text-align:left;"| Utah | 12 || 12 || 42.8 || .492 || .500 || .773 || 3.6 || 10.0 || 0.6 || 0.3 || 21.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2009 | style="text-align:left;"| Utah | 5 || 5 || 42.2 || .414 || .360 || .829 || 3.8 || 10.8 || 1.8 || 0.4 || 20.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2010 | style="text-align:left;"| Utah | 10 || 10 || 39.8 || .450 || .392 || .802 || 2.7 || 10.3 || 1.0 || 0.4 || 24.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 44 || 44 || 40.4 || .458 || .402 || .796 || 3.7 || 9.6 || 1.2 || 0.3 || 21.1

Career highs

Points

*Regular season - 42 vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, April 6, 2010

*Playoffs - 34 (twice) at San Antonio Spurs, May 20, 2007 and at Denver Nuggets, April 28, 2010

Assists - 21 (twice) vs. Memphis Grizzlies, January 24, 2007 and vs Minnesota Timberwolves, April 5, 2011

Rebounds - 9 vs. Los Angeles Lakers, February 10, 2010

Steals - 5, four times (first time: at Milwaukee Bucks, November 11, 2006)

Blocks - 3 , three times (first time: at Detroit Pistons, November 25, 2007)

Minutes - 54, vs. Los Angeles Clippers,

Personal

Williams was baptized as a Christian early 2010.

Williams appeared as himself on the Disney Channel show ''The Suite Life on Deck'' during the season 3 episode ''Twister: Part 1'' along with Dwight Howard and Kevin Love.

See also

List of National Basketball Association players with most assists in a game

Notes

External links

Deron Williams' official site

Deron Williams Photos

Category:1984 births Category:Living people Category:African American basketball players Category:Basketball players from Texas Category:People from Dallas, Texas Category:Basketball players from West Virginia Category:Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball players Category:Olympic basketball players of the United States Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States Category:Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:People from Parkersburg, West Virginia Category:Point guards Category:United States men's national basketball team members Category:Utah Jazz draft picks Category:Utah Jazz players Category:New Jersey Nets players Category:Olympic medalists in basketball

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Name	Kevin Durant
Team	Oklahoma City Thunder
Position	Small Forward
Number	35
Draft round	1
Draft pick	2
Draft year	2007
Draft team	Seattle SuperSonics
Career start	2007
Height ft	6
Height in	9
Weight lb	230
Nationality	American
Birth date	September 29, 1988
Birth place	Washington, D.C.
High school	Montrose Christian School (MD)Oak Hill Academy (VA)
College	Texas
years1	–present | team1 Seattle SuperSonics / Oklahoma City Thunder
Highlights	NBA Rookie of the Year () 2× NBA All-Star (–) 2× NBA scoring champion (–) 2× All-NBA First Team (–) NBA All-Rookie First Team () 2× H-O-R-S-E Competition winner (–) 2010 FIBA World Championship MVP Oscar Robertson Trophy (2007) Adolph Rupp Trophy (2007) Naismith College Player of the Year (2007) John R. Wooden Award (2007) }}

Kevin Wayne Durant (born September 29, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A 6'9" small forward/shooting guard who is also capable of playing power forward, Durant was the consensus 2007 National College Player of the Year and the 2006–2007 Big 12 Player of the Year, amongst other awards. After a standout freshman season at the University of Texas, Durant opted to enter the NBA Draft, where he was selected second overall by the Seattle SuperSonics. There he went on to win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award after his debut season. In 2007, Durant signed an endorsement contract with Nike. In the 2009–10 season Durant led the NBA in scoring and became the youngest player ever to win the NBA scoring title. He would later be named to the 2010 All NBA First Team.

High school career

A basketball player from his earliest days, Durant played for a successful Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) youth basketball team, the PG Jaguars. The Jaguars won multiple national championships with Durant and fellow future blue chip recruits Michael Beasley (Timberwolves) and Chris Braswell (UNC-Charlotte). Durant wore, and continues to wear, the No.35 jersey in honor of his childhood mentor and AAU coach, Charles Craig, who was murdered at age 35. Durant later moved on to play AAU basketball with fellow McDonald's All American Ty Lawson (Denver Nuggets) for the DC Blue Devils. After spending two years at National Christian Academy, and one year at Oak Hill Academy, Durant grew five inches and was 6'7" when he started at Montrose Christian School in Rockville, Maryland for his senior year, during which he grew two more inches. At Montrose, Durant led the team in scoring and steals and was named the Washington Post All Met Basketball Player of the Year. Durant also played with current Memphis Grizzlies point guard Greivis Vasquez while at Montrose. Vetter described Durant as a hard working player, complete with size, and incredible skills in shooting, ball handling, defense, and even some post up moves. Durant also was named a McDonald's All American and named co-MVP of the 2006 McDonald's All American game along with Chase Budinger. Behind Greg Oden, Durant was widely regarded as the second-best high school prospect.

College career

A 6'9" swingman with a 7'5" wingspan, Durant was one of four freshman starters for the University of Texas basketball team. Durant started in all 35 games of the season, which culminated with a loss in the second round of the NCAA tournament to the University of Southern California. Texas finished third in the conference with a 12–4 record and was the runner-up in the 2007 Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament.

Although he had a slender frame, Durant frequently used it to his advantage by posting up bigger players, while shooting over smaller guards. ESPN analyst Dick Vitale praised Durant as the "most prolific offensive skilled big perimeter" ever and proceeded to compare Durant's game to those of current NBA stars like Kevin Garnett and Dirk Nowitzki. After a 37-point, 23-rebound winning performance against the Texas Tech Red Raiders, head coach Bob Knight described Durant as quick, fast and mobile, and being "really good". Texas coach Rick Barnes admitted to rarely calling set plays for Durant, instead relying on Durant himself and on his teammates to find him within the flow of the offense.

Coming into the season, Durant was widely hailed by the media as the Big 12's top freshman and a top candidate to be named Freshman of the Year. He averaged 25.8 points per game and 11.1 rebounds per game during his freshman season with the Texas Longhorns. In Big 12 games he averaged 28.9 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. His college career high for scoring was 37 points, which he achieved on four occasions. Durant had thirty 20-point games his freshman year, including 37 in a losing effort against Kansas for the regular-season Big 12 title.

In March 2007, Durant was named the NABC Division I Player of the Year, and received the Oscar Robertson Trophy and the Adolph F. Rupp Trophy, becoming the first freshman to win each of these awards. On March 30, 2007, he was selected as the Associated Press college player of the year, becoming the first freshman and the first Texas athlete to receive this award since its inception in 1961. On April 1, 2007, he became the first freshman to receive the Naismith Award and on April 7, 2007, won the John R. Wooden Award.

Less than a week after being drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics, the University of Texas announced the retirement of Durant's No.35 jersey. The number will now hang in the rafters at the Frank Erwin Center along with the No.11 of former Longhorn great T. J. Ford. Durant's jersey is now one of nine retired by the University of Texas .

College statistics

35

College !! Year	! GP !! GS !! MIN !! SPG !! BPG !! RPG !! APG !! PPG !! FG%!! FT%!! 3P%
Texas	2006–07	35	|	35.9	1.9	1.9	11.1	1.3	25.8	.473	.816	.404

NBA career

Rookie season

Durant declared himself eligible for the 2007 NBA Draft on April 11, 2007 and signed his first professional contract on May 25 with the Upper Deck Company, who later heralded Durant to be the focus of their 2007–08 NBA trading card line. On June 28, 2007, Durant was taken second overall in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics. It was expected that either he or Greg Oden, the starting center for Ohio State, were to go Number 1 in the draft. However, Oden was drafted first overall by the Portland Trail Blazers. In the proceeding month, Durant went on to sign a seven-year, $60 million endorsement deal with Nike—a rookie deal only surpassed by LeBron James' contract with Nike. In doing so, Durant reportedly turned down a potential $70 million contract with Adidas, opting for Nike since he had worn them all his life.

On October 31, 2007, Durant made his NBA debut with 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals in a loss to the Denver Nuggets. On November 16, 2007 Durant made the first game-winning shot of his NBA career with a key 3-pointer to beat the Atlanta Hawks in double overtime. Durant finished with 21 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks. On November 30, 2007, Durant scored 35 points to beat the Indiana Pacers. In a game against the Denver Nuggets, he flirted with a triple double as he came up with 37 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists. In the last game of his rookie season, Durant finally recorded his first double-double of his career with a then career-high 42 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, and also added 5 assists. In addition to leading all rookies in scoring for the season, he was named the NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month for November, December (2007), January, March and April (2008). Durant's 20.3 point per game season average broke the SuperSonics' 40-year-old rookie record set by Bob Rule during the 1967–68 season. On April 30, 2008, Associated Press reported that Durant was awarded the NBA Rookie of the Year Award for the 2007–08 season.

2008–09 season

Following the 2007–08 season, the SuperSonics relocated to Oklahoma as the Oklahoma City Thunder. Although Durant was not selected to play in the 2009 NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix, he did take part in two events. On February 13, 2009, Durant led the Sophomore team to a 122–116 victory over the Rookie side at the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam. He was crowned the MVP for the game after he set the scoring record with 46 points, breaking the old mark set in 2004 when Suns F-C Amar'e Stoudemire had 36 for the sophomores. The next day, Durant came from behind to win the first ever H-O-R-S-E Competition in NBA All-Star weekend history, beating out Joe Johnson from the Atlanta Hawks and O. J. Mayo from the Memphis Grizzlies after getting four quick letters early in the game.

2009–10 season

Entering the season, the team were not expected to compete for a playoff berth; however, led by Durant, they finished the regular season with 50 wins and earned the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs. The 27-game improvement from the previous year was the sixth biggest turnaround in NBA history.

Durant won the 2010 H-O-R-S-E contest to win his second in a row. He also made his first All-Star Game appearance, and coached the rookies at the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and Youth Jam. He became the youngest in league history to win the scoring title at 21, averaging 30.1 points per game, beating out LeBron James. Durant also set the modern record for most games in a row with at least 25 points, breaking Allen Iverson's old record.

On April 18, 2010, Durant made his playoff debut with 24 points in a 79–87 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. He scored 32 in a 95–92 loss in game 2, but responded with 29 points and 19 rebounds in a 101–96 win at Oklahoma City. He then went on to put up 22 points in the game four win against the defending champs. In game 5, Durant chipped in 17 points as his team lost, 111–87. Game 6 ended the season for the Thunder as Pau Gasol tipped the ball in for a buzzer-beating basket. The Los Angeles Lakers went on to round 2 of the playoffs as they won 95–94. Durant scored 26 points in his last game of the season.

On May 2, 2010, the NBA announced that Durant finished second in the MVP voting for the 2009–2010 season, behind LeBron James.

Durant joined LeBron James as the forwards on the 2010 All-NBA First Team, alongside Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade, as announced by the NBA on May 6, 2010. It was his first selection to an All-NBA team.

To top off a career year, Kevin Durant was named the cover athlete for ''NBA Elite 11''. He previously appeared on the cover of NCAA March Madness 08.

2010–11 season

On July 7, 2010, Durant announced on his Twitter page that he signed a 5-year contract extension with the Thunder. The extension is worth about $86 million.

International career

In late February 2007, Durant received an invitation to the Team USA Basketball training camp, becoming the second freshman after Greg Oden to achieve this. After playing only a handful of games in the 2007 NBA Summer League, Durant was chosen to play for Team USA and participate in the State Farm USA basketball challenge, alongside NBA all-stars like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwight Howard. Although Durant held his own in scoring 22 points for the Blue team in one game, he was ultimately dropped when the roster was trimmed to the twelve-player limit. Coach Mike Krzyzewski cited the experience of the remaining players as the deciding factor in making the cut. He was also one of the last cuts to the USA Men's Senior National Team for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Durant was finally able to represent the USA at 2010 FIBA World Championship and turned out to be the go-to-guy since other stars were unavailable for various reasons. Before the tournament, he downplayed this notion saying "he was another guy on the team." Eventually, he led Team USA to its first FIBA World Championship since 1994 and was named MVP of the Tournament. Along the way, Durant broke several Team USA scoring records including most points in a tournament (205) and most points in a single game (38). He averaged 22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.4 steals in nine games.

He has expressed interest in playing for the 2012 Olympics.

Personal

Kevin Durant is the son of Wanda and Wayne Pratt, he has one sister Brianna and two brothers Tony and Rayvonne. Along with his mother he was also raised by his grandmother Barbara Davis. Durant and Michael Beasley grew up together having a close friendship and remain best friends. Durant is a spokesperson for the Washington D.C. branch of P'Tones Records, a nationwide non-profit after school music program.

NBA career statistics

	Led the league

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2007–08 | style="text-align:left;"| Seattle | 80 || 80 || 34.6 || .430 || .288 || .873 || 4.4 || 2.4 || 1.0 || .9 || 20.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2008–09 | style="text-align:left;"| Oklahoma City | 74 || 74 || 39.0 || .476 || .422 || .863 || 6.5 || 2.8 || 1.3 || .7 || 25.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2009–10 | style="text-align:left;"| Oklahoma City | 82 || 82 || 39.5 || .476 || .365 || .900 || 7.6 || 2.8 || 1.4 || 1.0 || style="background:#cfecec;"| 30.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2010–11 | style="text-align:left;"| Oklahoma City | 78 || 78 || 38.9 || .462 || .350 || .880 || 6.8 || 2.7 || 1.1 || 1.0 || style="background:#cfecec;"| 27.7 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 314 || 314 || 38.0 || .462 || .357 || .882 || 6.3 || 2.7 || 1.2 || .9 || 25.9 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:left;"| All-Star | style="text-align:left;"| | 2 || 1 || 25.0 || .486 || .357 || 1.000 || 4.0 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 24.5

Playoffs

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2010 | style="text-align:left;"| Oklahoma City | 6 || 6 || 38.5 || .350 || .286 || .871 || 7.7 || 2.3 || .5 || 1.3 || 25.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2011 | style="text-align:left;"| Oklahoma City | 17 || 17 || 42.5 || .449 || .339 || .838 || 8.2 || 2.8 || .9 || 1.1 || 28.6 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 23 || 23|| 41.4 || .423 || .326 || .847 || 8.0 || 2.7 || .8 || 1.2 || 27.7

Awards and honors

2010 FIBA World Championship MVP

NBA All-Star: 2010, 2011

NBA Scoring Champion: 2010, 2011

All-NBA First Team: 2010, 2011

NBA All-Star Weekend H–O–R–S–E Competition winner: 2009, 2010

NBA Rookie Challenge MVP: 2009

NBA Rookie of the Year: 2008

All-Rookie First Team: 2008

;Milestones and records

Most points in a Rookie Challenge game (46)

Most points in an NBA All-Star Weekend (46)

Most points in a FIBA World Championship game by Team USA (38)

;Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder Franchise Records

Consecutive games scoring 30 or more points [7 (twice), from December 22, 2009 to January 2, 2010 and from April 4, 2010 to April 14]

:*Broke the record of 6 set by Spencer Haywood in January 1972.

Consecutive games scoring 25 or more points (29, from December 22, 2009 to February 23, 2010)

Most 30+ point games in one season (48, 2009–2010)

Most points in one season (2,472; 2009–2010)

Other achievements

2006 Co-MVP McDonald's All-American Game – Shared award with Chase Budinger

2007 ESPN All-American 2007 ESPN Player of the Year 2007 NABC Division I Player of the Year

2007 AP Player of the Year (First freshman to achieve the honor)

2007 AP All-America 1st Team (unanimous) 2007 Oscar Robertson Trophy 2007 Adolph Rupp Trophy 2007 Naismith Award Winner (First freshman to do so) 2007 John R. Wooden Award All-American Team 2007 John R. Wooden Award Winner Big 12 Rookie of the Week (six times) Big 12 Player of the Week (four times) 2007 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Awards:

*Player of the Year

*Big 12 Freshman of the Year

*All-Big 12 First Team (unanimous)

*Big 12 All-Defensive Team

*Big 12 All-Rookie Team (unanimous)

2007 AP National Player of the Year

See also

2006 high school boys basketball All-Americans

References

External links

Official website

Category:1988 births Category:Living people Category:American basketball players Category:Basketball players from Maryland Category:Basketball players from Washington, D.C. Category:McDonald's High School All-Americans Category:Oklahoma City Thunder players Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Category:People from Montgomery County, Maryland Category:Seattle SuperSonics draft picks Category:Seattle SuperSonics players Category:Shooting guards Category:Small forwards Category:Texas Longhorns men's basketball players Category:United States men's national basketball team members

ca:Kevin Durant cs:Kevin Durant da:Kevin Durant de:Kevin Durant et:Kevin Durant es:Kevin Durant fa:کوین دورانت fr:Kevin Durant hr:Kevin Durant it:Kevin Durant he:קווין דוראנט lv:Kevins Durants lt:Kevin Durant nl:Kevin Durant ja:ケビン・デュラント pl:Kevin Durant pt:Kevin Durant ru:Дюрант, Кевин sl:Kevin Durant sr:Кевин Дјурант sh:Kevin Durant fi:Kevin Durant sv:Kevin Durant tl:Kevin Durant ta:கெவின் டுரான்ட் tr:Kevin Durant uk:Кевін Дюрант zh:凯文·杜兰特

Birthname	Emily Olivia Leah Blunt
Birth date	February 23, 1983
Birth place	London, England, UK
Yearsactive	2003–present
Occupation	Actress
Spouse	John Krasinski (2010–present)
Relatives	Crispin Blunt (uncle) }}

Emily Olivia Leah Blunt (born 23 February 1983) is an English actress. Blunt's first major film role came in the British drama ''My Summer of Love'' (2004). She then appeared in ''The Devil Wears Prada'' (2006) for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA. She has since appeared in a number of American and British productions, including ''Charlie Wilson's War'' (2007), ''The Young Victoria'' (2009), ''The Wolfman'' (2010), ''Wild Target'' (2010), and ''The Adjustment Bureau'' (2011).

In 2007, Blunt won a Golden Globe Award for her performance in the 2005 BBC television film ''Gideon's Daughter''.

Career

At the age of 16, Blunt moved to Hurtwood House, a sixth-form college known for its performing arts programme. There, she was discovered by an agent. Blunt made her professional debut in ''Bliss'', a new musical written by Paul Sellar, at the 2000 Edinburgh Fringe while she was still an A-level student. She went on to perform at the National Theatre and at Chichester Festival Theatre. In 2003, she made her screen debut in the British television drama ''Boudica'', about the life of the ancient British warrior-queen who fought the Romans. She also won considerable praise for her performance as the 16th-century queen Catherine Howard in the two-part British television drama ''Henry VIII''.

Blunt's breakout role was as Tamsin in the dark British movie, ''My Summer of Love'' in 2004, which depicted a story of deception and lesbian love in the English countryside. She shared an Evening Standard British Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer with co-star Natalie Press.

In 2005, she co-starred with Bill Nighy and Miranda Richardson in the British TV drama ''Gideon's Daughter'', an original screenplay written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff, in which she played the troubled only child of New Labour spin doctor Gideon Warner, played by Nighy. Blunt won a Golden Globe for her performance.

In 2006, she appeared opposite Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway in the box-office success ''The Devil Wears Prada''. Streep and Hathaway received most of the critical attention initially, but Blunt proved to be equally memorable with ''Entertainment Weekly'' naming her the Best Female Scene-Stealer in their end-of-summer special issue. She appeared at the 79th Academy Awards where she co-presented the award for best costume design with her ''Prada'' co-star Hathaway. In an interview with ''Us Weekly'', Hathaway said “I basically stuck with fruit, vegetables and fish (to slim down for the movie). I wouldn't recommend that. Emily Blunt and I would clutch at each other and cry because we were so hungry." Blunt also spoke about the weight loss, claiming she had to go "painfully thin".

Blunt co-starred with Susan Sarandon in the independent drama ''Irresistible''. When Sarandon became attached to starring in another movie, ''The Girl In The Park'', she strongly suggested that director David Auburn should cast Blunt. In 2007, she appeared in the film ''Charlie Wilson's War''.

In 2009, she played Queen Victoria in ''The Young Victoria'', directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and written by Julian Fellowes. The movie co-starred Miranda Richardson and Rupert Friend as the queen's husband, Prince Albert. She also starred in the Toby Spanton-directed short film ''Curiosity''. She was director Jon Favreau's first choice to play the Black Widow in ''Iron Man 2'' but scheduling conflicts with ''Gulliver's Travels'' forced her to cede the role to Scarlett Johansson. In 2010, Blunt co-starred with Academy Award winners Benicio del Toro and Anthony Hopkins in the big-budget movie ''The Wolfman'', which was released on 12 February. She also starred in ''Gulliver's Travels'' and in ''The Adjustment Bureau'', alongside Matt Damon, as a ballet dancer "being mysteriously kept apart" from Damon's character. Blunt was offered the female lead in the ''Captain America: The First Avenger'' movie but turned it down. Her next film project is Lasse Hallström's ''Salmon Fishing in the Yemen'' alongside Kristin Scott Thomas and Ewan McGregor.

Blunt is scheduled to film her next movie ''The Five-Year Engagement'' with Jason Segel, in Michigan in spring 2011. It has been announced that Blunt will star in an 'untitled dark comedy' with Colin Firth

Personal life

Blunt was born in Roehampton, London, England. She is the second of four children born to Janice M. (née Dixon), an English teacher and former actress, and barrister Oliver Simon Peter Blunt, QC, one of the highest-profile barristers in the U.K. Her paternal uncle is Crispin Blunt, Conservative MP for Reigate.

Blunt previously shared a home with her ex-boyfriend, Canadian singer Michael Bublé, whom she first met in Melbourne backstage at the Australian television Logie Awards in 2005. She later provided background vocals on his cover of "Me and Mrs. Jones" on his album ''Call Me Irresponsible''. In November 2008, Blunt began dating American actor John Krasinski, after the pair were set up by Blunt's ''The Devil Wears Prada'' co-star Anne Hathaway. On 28 August 2009, Blunt and Krasinski announced their engagement. The couple married on 10 July 2010 in Italy and live in the United States.

Filmography

! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
2003		Isolda
2003			Catherine Howard	TV movie
2003	''Foyle's War''	Lucy Markham
2004	''Agatha Christie's Poirot''	Linnet Ridgeway
2004	''My Summer of Love''	Tamsin
2005		Camane	TV miniseries
2005	''''	Jean Leckie	TV movie
2005	''Gideon's Daughter''	Natasha	TV movie
2006		Mara
2006	''''	Emily
2007		Girl
2007	''''	Prudie
2007	''Dan in Real Life''	Ruthie Draper
2007	''Charlie Wilson's War''	Jane Liddle
2008	''Sunshine Cleaning''	Norah Lorkowski
2008	''''	Valerie Brennan
2009	''''	Juliet Hobbes (voice)	Episode: "Lisa the Drama Queen"
2009	''''	Queen Victoria
2009		Emma	Short film
2010	''Wild Target''	Rose
2010	''''	Gwen Conliffe
2010		Princess Mary
2011	''Gnomeo & Juliet''	Juliet (voice)
2011	''''	Elise Sellas
2011	''Your Sister's Sister''	Iris	''Post-production''
2011	''''		''Post-production''
2011	''Salmon Fishing in the Yemen''	Harriet Chetwode-Talbot	''Post-production''
2012		Sara	''Post-production''
2012	''Five-Year Engagement''	TBA	''Post-production''

+ Theatre
! Year	! Title	! Role	! Theatre
2000	''Bliss''	Maddy	Edinburgh Fringe Festival
2001	''''	Gwen	West End Theatre
2002	''Vincent in Brixton''	Eugenie Loyer	RNT
2002	''Romeo & Juliet''	Juliet	Chichester Festival Theatre
2004	''Bumps and Bruises''	Holly	BBC Radio 4

Awards and nominations

! Year	! Award	! Category	! Nominated work	! Result
2004		Most Promising Newcomer		Nominated
		British Newcomer of the Year	Nominated
	Most Promising Newcomer	Won
2006	Teen Choice Award	Choice Breakout	rowspan="7"	Nominated
		Best Actress in a Supporting Role	Nominated
Rising Star	Nominated
	British Actress of the Year in a Supporting Role	Nominated
MTV Movie Award	Best Comedic Performance	Nominated
ALFS Award	British Supporting Actress of the Year	Won
	Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture	Nominated
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television	''Gideon's Daughter ''	Won
		Best Actress	rowspan="4"	Nominated
Satellite Awards	Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama	Nominated
Broadcast Film Critics Association	Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress	Nominated
Golden Globes	Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture	Nominated
Satellite Awards	Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture	''Sunshine Cleaning''	Nominated

References

External links

Emily Blunt Interview: Blunt Force at ''Los Angeles Times Magazine''

Emily Blunt Video Interview at ''Los Angeles Times Magazine''

Category:1983 births Category:21st-century actors Category:Actors from London Category:Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (television) winners Category:English expatriates in the United States Category:English film actors Category:English stage actors Category:English television actors Category:English voice actors Category:Living people Category:People from Roehampton Category:Royal National Theatre Company members

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name	Please Vote for Me
director	Weijun Chen
released	2007
runtime	58 minutes
country	South Africa, Denmark
language	Mandarin
followed by	}}

Please Vote for Me is a 2007 documentary film following the elections for class monitor in a 3rd grade class of eight year old children in the Evergreen Primary School in Wuhan, China. The candidates, Luo Lei, Xu Xiaofei, and Cheng Cheng, compete against each other for the coveted role and are egged on by their teachers and doting parents.This was reported to be the first election of its type for a class monitor held in a school in China, as well as an interesting use of classic democratic voting principles and interpersonal dymanics.

It gives a glimpse into China's contemporary urban middle classes. It won the Sterling Feature Award at Silverdocs in 2007. In November 2007, ''Please Vote for Me'' was named by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as one of 15 films on its documentary feature Oscar shortlist. The list was narrowed to five films on January 22, 2008, but ''Please Vote for Me'' did not make it to the final five.

The film is part of the "Why Democracy?" series. It was aired in no less than 35 different countries around the world in October 2007, including BBC in the UK and PBS in the United States

Notes

Bibliography

"Please Vote for Me: A crash course in democracy" by Ronault L.S. Catalani, review of the film in the The Asian Reporter, V17, #42 (October 16, 2007), pages 16 & 20.

External links

Official Site – official website

PLEASE VOTE FOR ME site for Independent Lens on PBS

Silverdocs Film Festival synopsis of the film

"Please Vote for Me" – official entry in "Why Democracy?" website

Please Vote for Me page on MySpace

Category:2007 films Category:2000s documentary films Category:Documentary films about children Category:Documentary films about the People's Republic of China Category:Documentary films about elections

zh:请投我一票