The NBA officially revealed the worst-kept secret in the sports world on Tuesday, naming Oklahoma City Thunder star SF Kevin Durant the MVP of the league for the 2013-14 regular season. It is only the second time in the past six years, and the first time in the last three that LeBron James will not win the award (Derrick Rose won it in 2011).
Durant won it in a landslide, grabbing 119 first-place votes to James’s six. The Clipper’s Blake Griffin finished third in the voting, while the Bull’s Joakim Noah and the Rocket’s James Harden rounded out the top five.
It had been widely expected that Durant would capture the NBA’s most prestigious individual award for the first time in his career for several months, and rightfully so, as he capped off a statistically historic season, averaging 32.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game while leading the Thunder to a 59-23 regular-season record, good for second-best in the league. His remarkable year was arguably defined by a 41-game stretch in which he scored 25 or more points, besting Michael Jordan’s previous streak of 40 straight games, and coming within five games of Oscar Robertson’s streak of 46 (Wilt Chamberlain owns the record with 80).
Durant has definitely dealt with his fair share of adversity this season, however, being forced to overcome injuries and extended absences from several key Thunder players, including those of star point guard Russell Westbrook (missed 34 games), shooting guard Thabo Sefolosha (missed 21 games), and center Kendrick Perkins (missed 20 games).
When Westbrook went down with a knee injury in late December, Durant responded by putting the entire team on his back, leading his team to a 13-4 record during the month of January, while averaging an astounding 35.9 points and shooting 54.9% from the field.
Durant is the first player to both lead the league in scoring and win the MVP award in the same season since Allen Iverson did it in the 2000-01 season.
After the Thunder advanced to the second round of the playoffs with a 120-109 game 7 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night, Durant undoubtedly avoided having to be a part of what would have been been the most uncomfortable MVP news conference since 2007, when Dirk Nowitski accepted the award after losing in the first round of the playoffs to the Golden State Warriors.
While Durant will surely be honored to take home his first and long-coveted MVP trophy, his primary focus is likely elsewhere, as the Thunder are currently down 0-1 in their Western Conference Semifinals matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers, who took game one by score of 122-105. Durant scored 25 points in the loss.
For more on sports injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @tpricelwos. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport and “liking” our Facebook page.
