OKLAHOMA CITY -- Marami nang scoring titles si Kevin Durant. Ngunit ngayon ay idinagdag niya ang MVP trophy sa kanyang koleksyon.
Nakamit ng Oklahoma City Thunder star ang top individual honor ng NBA matapos tumanggap ng 119 first-place votes.
Tinalo ni Durant sina Miami Heat superstar LeBron James, inangkin ang naunang dalawang MVP awards at apat sa nakaraang lima, na may 6 first-place votes at Blake Griffin ng Los Angeles Clippers.
“Everything in my life, I had to take it,’’ wika ni Durant. “They’re not going to give it to you out of sympathy. I wouldn’t want it any other way. This was another case, if I wanted to win the MVP, I had to go take it. I felt that this was the year I did that.’’
Nakuha ni Durant ang kanyang ikaapat na scoring crown sa nakaraang limang taon sa kanyang average na 32 points.
Tinulungan ng 6-foot-9 forward ang Thunder sa pagtatala ng 59-23, ang second-best sa NBA, sa kabila ng paglalaro sa season na halos wala si three-time All-Star Russell Westbrook na may knee injury.
“He’s basically put himself in front of everybody else in the league and shown that he’s the best player in the world,’’ sabi ni Westbrook.
Sinuportahan naman ni James ang pagkilala kay Durant: “Much res-pect to him and he deserves it. He had a big-time MVP season,’’ ani James.