Tony Mejia has Kevin Durant as a “rightfully should feel snubbed” almost All-Star.
Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus on the Rookie/Sophomore challenge: “Although Durant’s takeoff in his second season has had something to do with his move from shooting guard to small forward, he’ll have to return to guard for one night because of an imbalance in the sophomore talent. To the extent Durant’s December turnaround flew under the radar elsewhere, it’s been impossible to miss his enormous January–27.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game with a 60.5 percent True Shooting Percentage. Yikes. The only real concern is that Scott Brooks might be running the slight Durant into the ground by playing him 39.3 minutes per night (third in the league). The obvious comparison for Durant (Carmelo Anthony) shows up second in similarity. No. 1? Kobe Bean Bryant. Double yikes.”
Lengthy piece by Johnny Ludden of Yahoo! Sports: “So, yes, Kevin Durant knows what you’re thinking. He also wants you to understand this: “Hopefully,” he says, “I’ll spend my whole career here.” Durant sees a future with the Thunder, and, as unlikely as that seemed even a month ago, he’s building a case for why everyone else should also see the skies clearing over OKC. This week, the Thunder moved out of the NBA’s basement for the first time since early November. The upgrade in accommodations, as potentially short-lived as it may be, came on the heels of a stretch in which the Thunder won six of their past nine games – four more victories than they totaled in their first 26 outings of the season.”
The Kansas City Star endorses KD as an All-Star: “Facchini also mentioned that the team decided against “gimmicky” campaigns to push for Durant. It seems that firing coach P.J. Carlesimo and trying to win basketball games ranked as more important endeavors than creating perceptions that their guy is an All-Star. Understandable. It’s just too bad that Durant’s reward for being one of the league’s top players is an invitation to the Rookie-Sophomore game.”
KD was one of Daily Dime’s best of the night: “He filled up the box score, posting 35 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and four blocks to lead Oklahoma City, which closed the game on a 14-0 run, to a 114-102 victory over the Grizzlies.” Keep Reading…
game went an extra five and the Thunder played incredibly well closing out Memphis 114-102.
vs. 
Washington who is 9-35 on the season, while OKC is an awesome 10-35.
Kevin Durant and the Pete Maravich All-Stars
By Royce Young
royceyoung41@gmail.com
Pete Maravich was a five-time All-Star for the Atlanta Hawks and New Orleans Jazz. It’s indisputable – he’s one of the greatest point guards ever. He was exciting, he was talented and he was flashy. He could pass and score. He was the total package. But only one of those teams finished the season with a winning record (46-36, 1972-73). He made the team in his third year because his numbers were so gaudy that there was no way you could say no. So a precedent has been set – a great player on a bad team can go to the All-Star game.
With All-Star reserves being announced Thursday, it seems the basketball world is split on Kevin Durant. Some think he’s a year or two off, mainly because he’s on a 10-win team. Some say he’s ready now, regardless of the team’s record. Well, you can put me in camp No. 2 – he’s an All-Star now.
Both Kobe Bryant and LeBron James were All-Stars in their second season. LeBron had ridiculous numbers: 27.2 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 7.2 apg. How can you say no to that? But Kobe made it more or less because or hype. His team was good (lost in the Western Finals to the Jazz) but he was just getting 26 minutes a game and averaging 15.4 ppg, 3.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists.
Now we all know Durant’s awesome numbers. (24.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 2.6 apg, in case you forgot.) He’s one of just nine players that are leading their team in both points and rebounds (Chris Bosh, LeBron, Dwight Howard, Antwan Jamison, Dirk Nowitzki, Yao, Tim Duncan, Al Jefferson, Carlos Boozer). He’s in pretty good company there. He does everything for his team. He’s improved every facet of his game and is putting together one of the best seasons ever for a 20-year-old.
Forget the fact his numbers are closer to 26 points and eight rebounds since the end of November. Forget that he’s shooting 47 percent, 42 percent and 86 percent from the field, three and the free throw line. Forget that he’s clearly the best player on his team and that opponents key on him like he Jimmy Chitwood. All that aside even, he’s still and All-Star. It’s the game for the league’s best players. And KD is clearly one of them.
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