"When he walked into the sweltering high school gym in Northeast Washington on Saturday, Kevin Durant was wearing a plain white T-shirt, basketball shorts, flip-flops and his trademark backpack strapped on his shoulders. Fans inside didn't swarm him or swoon as the two-time NBA all-star quietly breezed across the court to shake hands and then crack some jokes with Jeff Green, the former Georgetown star and Durant's former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate.

Durant signed every autograph, posed for every picture, and smiled at every kid that approached him after he finished scoring 44 points and handed out the game-winning assist in a Goodman League victory at Spingarn High School, where NBA Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor and Dave Bing once starred. Most in attendance probably couldn't afford the hundreds of dollars that it would cost to sit this closely to watch Durant play at Verizon Center, but this is the way the 22-year-old District native can give the people what they want, and can rarely get, for free, at least.

“I just want to hoop,” Durant said Saturday. “I do it for everybody back here that really don’t get a chance to see me that much. I just want to break the barrier. A lot of NBA players don’t do it as often as I do it now, before. Guys may come, play one or two games, but I play all summer, so I just want to break the barrier, show them that I’m regular.”

Durant has been playing with the Goodman League since he was an even scrawnier 16-year-old, hoping to earn a reputation. But even after establishing himself as a superstar, signing an $85-million extension, leading the United States to a gold medal in the FIBA world championship in Istanbul last September, and playing pickup basketball with President Obama, Durant continues to come back home and play pickup games on the blacktop at Barry Farm or Harlem’s renowned Rucker Park or the hardwood at Spingarn or the Drew League in Compton, Calif.

“It feels good to go into different hoods and show them my game,” he said. “People respect it.”

Durant said staying busy with playground basketball has provided a good distraction from the NBA’s labor strife, which is now in day 45 of a lockout that threatens to jeopardize the entire 2011-12 campaign. Durant’s agent, Aaron Goodwin, told ESPN.com that his client has been in negotiations with Besiktas, the same Turkish team that signed New Jersey Nets guard Deron Williams. Durant is also considering possibilities in Russia and Spain. He realizes that he will eventually have to make a decision about where he will play this fall, if it appears the league and its union cannot come to an agreement by the time training camps are slated to begin on Oct. 3.

Durant said that after speaking with Stephen Jackson and a few other players last week, he has decided to set a deadline of Oct. 1. “Once we really know the season is not going to start at regular time, that’s when you make the decision,” he said. “I guess when October hits, it’s really going to get real for me. I don’t want to do it too early and be locked into something, knowing we’re going to play. I’m going to keep my options open.”"