Kevin Durant and the Rolling Thunder
With little argument, it can be said that Kevin Durant is having a stand-out season. Last night, case in point, KD dropped 43 points on only 19 shots, went 10 of 11 from the free-throw line, had 10 rebounds, and also 5 steals in a win at home against CP3 and the New Orleans Hornets. But, that’s not even the best game that Durant logged during last week alone.
From the week of January 26th until yesterday (February 2nd), the Thunder won three of their four games, and Durant clocked just under 180 minutes over that four-game span—about 45 minutes a game.
But in those 180 minutes—those 3 hours of basketball—Durant worked some Oklahoma City-sized wonders.
Between January 26th and February 2nd, the Thunder: won a close game in Minnesota 118-117, beat the Wizards at home 124-117, lost to the Big 3 and the Miami Heat in a close game at home, then beat the Hornets at home 104-93. Over those games, Kevin Durant posted: 47 points, 13 of 14 free-throws, 18 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks against the Timeberwolves; 40 points and 7 rebounds against the Wizards; 33 points, 16 of 19 free-throws, 10 rebounds, and 4 steals against the Heat; and then had himself a night of a similarly outstanding fashion at home against the Hornets.
Oh yeah, and last September, Durant only turned 22-years old.
Let’s not forget that this is the same young man that helped lead the U.S. Men’s basketball team to a Gold medal in Turkey last summer, under the guidance of Duke’s revered Coach K. It was the first Gold for the U.S. Men’s team in the FIBA World Championships since 1994. In the NBA this season, KD is adding to his highlight season by also averaging career-highs in assists and blocks.
Durant was drafted 2nd overall by the Seattle Supersonics in 2007 out of the University of Texas, where he averaged better than a double-double, nearly 2 blocks and steals per game, and better than 81% from the free-throw line for the Longhorns. The 6’9’’ Durant, a Rockville, Maryland native, is also an NBA Rookie of the Year, a two-time NBA All-Star, was last year’s NBA Scoring Champion, and was also the FIBA World Championships MVP last summer in Turkey.
We will have to wait and see if the Thunder ultimately make it to the next level of this year’s NBA playoffs in a stiff Western Conference, but regardless, one thing is for certain: as long as Kevin Durant is on the floor, the 6’9’’, “Small” Forward will continue to get his.
