KEVIN Durant is a four-time scoring champ, seven-time All-Star and is all but a lock for the Hall of Fame.

You’d think he’d know the game inside and out, and he thought the same — until he joined the Golden State Warriors.

“There’s a lot I need to learn about the game of basketball,” Durant told reporters this week. “I’m not as smart as I thought I was about the game. It’s played a different way here then I was used to playing.”

The Warriors’ propensity to move the ball is something Durant probably was not used to while playing with the Thunder. Golden State led the league last season in assists per game at 28.9, more than three assists better than second-place Atlanta. The Thunder ranked 10th last season.

But Durant made it clear that he wasn’t knocking his former team by making his admission.

“It’s not a knock on Oklahoma City,” Durant said. “It’s not a knock on my past teammates or that organization.

“It’s different here. It’s fun here. It’s fun playing where I was before but that book is closed.”

It’s not hard to see why a team containing Kevin Durant and Steph Curry will be the scariest side in the NBA season.

Durant scored 21 points on his home debut as the Golden State Warriors demolished the Los Angeles Clippers 120-75 in a pre-season game on Tuesday.

Durant, who joined the already powerful Warriors from the Oklahoma City Thunder in July, made a trio of three pointers in a one-sided encounter.

Golden State Warriors are terrifying. Confirmed. — Carson Cunningham (@KOCOCarson) October 5, 2016

No team is going to get in the way of this Golden State Warriors side. — Thändö (@therealthandoe) October 5, 2016

Klay Thompson top scored for the Warriors with 30 points while reigning NBA MVP Stephen Curry chipped in with 14 points at the Oracle Arena.

The Warriors opened up a 20-point lead in the first quarter and never looked back.

Their lead had stretched to 102-51 by the start of the fourth quarter, an ominous warning to the rest of the league as the new season looms closer.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr gave more than 20 minutes of game time each to Curry, Durant, Draymond Green and Thompson before resting the all-star quartet.

Thompson reached his 30-point haul with only 14 shots but the biggest roar of the night was reserved for Durant, who opened the scoring early on with a three-pointer before later leaving the game to a standing ovation.

— with AFP