If you listen closely to the whispers coming out of Austin, you'll hear that Kevin Durant likes college. He likes being a kid, he's not sure he's ready to leave that behind and he's enjoying Austin, the University of Texas and the life he has right now. Honestly, he probably knows that barring an amputated leg he'll be a top 3 pick in whichever NBA draft he decides to enter ... so why give up the other stuff so quickly?

You'll also hear that Nike might be trying to force Durant's hand though, offering him a chance to be their key (and possibly only) spokesperson in this draft class, including a potential apparel contract worth somewhere around $50 million or maybe even higher. The rumor is that Nike won't guarantee as generous an offer if Durant stays for his sophomore year of school, and they are trying to use this as leverage to pull him out this year.

It's hard to feel "sorry" for anyone who is looking at a guaranteed deal worth more than the GDP of several small nations no matter what their age, but Durant is just 18 and if he doesn't want to be forced into the grown up world quite yet, it's sort of depressing that his prodigious talent seems to have done just that. No matter what he decides to do (and I think it's nearly inevitable that he declares for the NBA Draft), it will be a business decision - carefully balancing the risk of potentially lost income against the easy carelessness of being a college student.