Peyton Watson of the Denver Nuggets stands with teammates before the first quarter against the Dallas Mavericks at Ball Arena in Denver on Monday, Dec. 18, 2023. It’s a parent’s job to worry over nothing, to invent hypothetical situations that’ll make a teenager’s eyes roll at the sheer effort of the paranoia.
“I was starstruck,” Watson said. “I couldn’t even sleep the night before. I didn’t even go to sleep. I stayed up all night.” “When I got there, I came to play ball and show what I could do. Showcase my talent,” Watson said. “So I went out there and didn’t want to be one of those guys who just was happy to be there. I went out there and was challenging people. I was scoring. I was holding my own.”
After the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the NBA, a rehabbing Durant was in Los Angeles to train. That’s when his people reached out to Watson’s with a time and location. There were about a dozen games, first to seven or eight points. Precise details are murky now, but Watson remembers being on a team with Irving and Christian Wood. The other team included Durant, Prince, and Jaylen Hands, a Brooklyn Nets G League player. There were a few no-shows, lending Watson more reps. “He wouldn’t have played every game, since he was so young, and we try to give the seniority to the pros,” Durant said.
“It was actually one of the better days we had,” Durant said. “Because it was ups and downs trying to come out of rehab, and everybody trying to find their rhythm through the pandemic. So it was a weird time, but I think we got something out of it for sure. It’s a great environment. It’s one of those things that you always want to remember as you get older — those moments in the gym with no cameras, no practice jerseys, no refs. It’s just us purely hooping for the fun of it.
“I love that he’s carving out a lane for himself, because in college he didn’t get a lot of minutes. He didn’t play a lot,” Durant says now. “He got drafted purely off of talent, potential, his athleticism. He’s somebody I’ve really got major respect for. I really want to see him do well.”