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DeAndre Liggins, The Unlikely NBA Finals X-Factor

As the Oklahoma City Thunder readied for their 2013 postseason run, Kevin Durant addressed reporters at a May media availability. The presser turned to potential playoff contributions from Oklahoma City’s crop of youngsters, Perry Jones III, Jeremy Lamb and DeAndre Liggins, following their stints in the D-League. On Liggins’s growth, Durant, who was only a year removed from the NBA Finals, waxed poetic.

“He’s a workhorse, man. I love him,” Durant began. “You can tell he’s a guy that’s tough and has been that way his whole life. You can just tell by how he plays that he’s been working from the bottom to get to the top his whole life.