With all the constant social media chatter of ‘LeBron James vs Michael Jordan – who’s better?’, people are forgetting that Kevin Durant is fast becoming part of that conversation, as well, after he secured his second NBA Finals MVP award in three appearances in the early hours of this morning.
Following a humbling Finals debut in 2012, where Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder lost in five games against LeBron James’ Miami Heat – the 6’11” forward has since won two Finals MVP awards in his two seasons with the Golden State Warriors.
Durant averaged 28.7 points, 10.7 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game in the Finals. And he capped a stunning series with a first post-season triple-double of 20 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in Game 4.
“It’s just about the journey, all season,” Durant told ESPN. “Getting up every day, going to work with these guys, it’s amazing. The environment is incredible. It’s good for you to be around guys like this. It helps you become a better basketball player and a better man.”
And being around great team-mates and a perfect environment has helped Durant become the leader of a star-studded Warriors team that includes Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, arguably the two best shooters of their generation. And as a result, Durant has claimed two MVP awards and won two championships out of three.
This year’s MVP award was between Durant and Curry, with the former winning the vote 7-4, leaving the latter out again as he has failed to capture the individual accolade in the three championships that Golden State has won.
Curry stated afterwards that all he wanted was a championship because that’s what matters. Something that Durant echoed.
“Does it matter? Does it? Does it?” Durant said of his winning the award over Curry.
“We won two championships. We just won back-to-back. I don’t think anybody’s even worried about that type of stuff. I’m glad that we came out and played a great game tonight. We were able to finish the series off. That’s the only thing that matters to us.”
Photo: USA Today Sports
