Durant: I'm not worried about awards because opposing fans fear, respect me
Kevin Durant doesn't need hardware to validate his standing.
The Golden State Warriors are the favorites to hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy at season's end for the second year in a row and the third time in four years, and yet it's highly unlikely any of their stars will claim the Maurice Podoloff trophy.
Durant, who was named Most Valuable Player in 2014 as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder, isn't fretting over the lack of consideration this time around.
"Awards don't mean anything, for one. You can still be an MVP-caliber player and not win MVP, in my opinion," he told Yahoo Sports' Michael Lee.
"I know how good I am. Everybody in this league knows how good I am. All the fans know. No matter how much they try to deny it, or hate, or tell you anything different. They know when I step on the court, they fear me, as fans of the game. I'm not saying my opponents fear me, but when I get a wide-open shot, I hear the crowd. Before I shoot it, I hear. They all respect it.
"But obviously, the move that I made (from OKC to the Bay Area), people that - they enjoy competition, whatever they call that, or suspense in the basketball game - they didn't like it. So anything to take a shot at me here and there, I knew it was coming. The MVP I got, I experienced that already. That's what I'm about, I want to experience things. I experienced what that's like. Let's move on. What's next for me?"
The four-time scoring champion has finished in the top five in MVP voting in six of his nine seasons prior to joining the superteam Warriors in 2016. Despite improving his all-around game - making the largest leap defensively - with his new team, his chances of earning the honor again has shrunken substantially now that he splits votes with teammate Stephen Curry, MVP in 2015 and 2016.
Durant is averaging 26.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 1.9 blocks this season. His former teammate James Harden is the MVP front-runner, as he's led the Houston Rockets to the best record in the NBA and a position just a hair above Golden State in the standings.