NBA: As the Thunder Rolls, A Star is Rising

As I remember watching Kevin Durant in his freshman year of college basketball, as a fan of the Texas Longhorns, I knew I was watching a future NBA super star unfold. My favorite Durant moments came in his biggest Big 12 games against opponents such as Oklahoma State that would always play them tough and the games usually came down to who had the ball last. I was sad to see Durant's collegiate basketball career come to an end in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but at the same time excited about his NBA future.

I thought for sure that he was going to be the number 1 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. Portland ended up with the pick and took Greg Oden from Ohio State, while Durant fell to number 2 to the Seattle Supersonics (known today as Oklahoma City Thunder). As it turns out Oklahoma City got the better end of this deal as Oden has been a bust so far in the NBA due to injuries. He showed some promise and good signs as to why he was the number 1 pick early this season before he was hampered by yet another injury once again cutting his season short. 

Durant had a solid rookie season in which he averaged 34.6 min, 20.3 pts, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists. His second season came in the 2008-2009 season, where Durant started to show signs that he could be a super star in this league. He averaged 39 min/game, while increasing his ppg to 25.3, rpg to 6.5, and apg to 2.8 per contest.

This season the 2009-2010 season, Durant has blossomed into a super star in the NBA, an NBA All Star, better jump shooter, and team leader as he has had 18 games in a row where he has scored over 25 points per game, and is third in the NBA in scoring at 29.3 ppg behind LeBron James (29.9 ppg) and Carmelo Anthony (29.7 ppg). So far this season Durant is averaging 29.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg, and 2.9 apg. 

Durant is making people notice and talk about the Oklahoma City Thunder (24-20 ) not just by the numbers that he is putting up, but also he has led the Thunder on the path to surpass their win total from all of last season and possibly their first playoff berth since the team moved to Oklahoma City from Seattle.

One thing is for sure Durant is already a super star in this league and is putting up huge numbers, yet this is only his third NBA season which could potentially be an MVP season. He is still young and still has a lot to learn about the game along with he is only going go get better which is scary considering what he is doing in the league and to teams now.

I look forward to watching the development of Kevin Durant as he continues to get better in the years to come, and I'm sure there are many others that feel the same way.