Watch Durant in the All-Star Game
Because he might just steal the shot this Sunday.
With the Oklahoma City Thunder surprising a lot of people this 2010 NBA basketball season, their main man, that’s Kevin Durant, is being included in the discussion for MVP honors this year. You read it, he’s right up there this year with the LeBrons, Kobes and Dwyane Wades. So how special has this guy been? Can he really take the MVP away from the more established players in the league today?
Listed at 6-foot-9 but closer to 6-11 according to those who try to defend him, Kevin Durant is doing it all for his team this season. He leads his team in scoring, rebounding and minutes (39.9). He has improved defensively while also increasing his scoring average, third best in the NBA, by four points over last season and by nine over his rookie season. His field goal percentage is up to 48.1 percent, better than last season’s 47.6 and well above the 43.0 percent he shot two years ago.
But perhaps the most impressive stat is that the Oklahoma City Thunder is posting a winning record so far. So good in fact that if the playoffs started today, the Thunder could enjoy homecourt advantage in the first round of the postseason.
Opposing players know that it is Durant’s combination of height, frame and extraordinary wingspan that makes him so rare in the game and a nightmare to defend. ”His capability of taking the ball off the dribble is very 2-guard-like, and getting to the rim,” Lamar Odom said. ”And, of course, he can get his shot over anybody. His jump shot, his step-back, it’s something you don’t really see.”
The closest comparison most make of Durant to anyone who has come through the league is silky Spurs great George Gervin and a young Tracy McGrady. Long and lean, Gervin was just 6-7 and a spry 185 pounds during his 12-year career in the 1970s and ’80s. McGrady, the player Durant said he has patterned his game after since an early age, is 6-8.
The Mavs’ head coach Rick Carlisle compared Durant’s game somewhat to that of fellow Baltimore native Reggie Lewis, who, at 6-7, 195 pounds, played on one All-Star team in a six-year career with the Celtics.
”He’s a different kind of cat. He’s taller than most everybody that’s played that position,” Carlisle said of Durant, referring to him as a shooting guard. ”He’s playing three positions on a regular basis. He’s playing 3, 4 and 2, and there’s times when you can argue that he’s the 5 when he’s out there with Green at the 4. And there’s a lot of times where he brings the ball up, so I’m not sure you label him as any one position. His position is just kind of on the floor.”
Durant will have a superb second half of the season putting his young team on his back and lead this team to its first ever playoff appearance in franchise history.
Which team will win the 2010 NBA Finals? SPORTSBETTING.com has the odds.
Orlando Magic 7-1
Boston Celtics 5-1
Denver Nuggets 12-1
Want more odds? Visit SPORTSBETTING.com for more basketball betting odds. Want to watch the NBA live? Get NBA tickets online now.
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