At the start of the season, Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets looked to be on the road to disaster. After requesting trade in the summer and pushing for the firing of his former head coach Steve Nash, the Nets started the season how many expected they would like a complete mess.
Now, about a quarter of the way through this season, the Nets are looking a lot better on both ends of the floor, and Durant has looked like an MVP through it all.
But is KD really a candidate for the MVP trophy considering all that transpired with the Nets this year? He ranked 9th in a recent poll, but ESPN’s Tim Bontemps says it’s going to be tough for him to sneak his way to the top this season.
“Durant cannot win MVP. there’s too much negative noise about the Nets, I think there’s too many lingering feelings about the summer. There’s no upward mobility for him. The way Durant’s playing has been incredible, he’s only sat one game, I just think it’s gonna be hard for him to overcome the noise around the Nets. Whether that’s fair or not is another thing…”
Kevin Durant Is Having One Of The Best Seasons Of His Career
Durant, 34, was supposed to be slowing down at this point in his career, but he’s been playing some of the best basketball of his life recently. Through 29 games this season, he’s averaging 29.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game on 56% shooting.
While a lot of the fans have recognized Durant’s brilliance this campaign, he’s more focused on winning than anything else. And even with his Nets playing some great games lately, KD knows not to let his guard down.
“Favorable schedule, being at home for seven of those, and being able to wake up in our own beds and have our own routine at home definitely matters, we also faced teams that missed a couple of guys as well but for the most part, I like the brand of basketball we played on both ends of the floor,” Durant said candidly on his team’s hot streak.
It’s still early in the season, so Durant could continue to climb up the MVP ladder if the Nets keep winning games like this.
But after all the damage he did over the summer, a lot of MVP voters still partly blame Durant for how bad things got this summer and early in the season. He’s going to have to play at an even higher level than usual if he wants to secure another MVP.
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