Kevin Durant: Where's the Love?

The Oklahoma City Thunder is a brand new team, filled with young players, but one player is playing like he's been in the league for years.

Young Kevin Durant, standing at 6'9'' and a lanky 215 pounds, is only 20 years old and has already emerged as one of the NBA's most elite players. He is currently putting up nearly 26 points and seven rebounds per game for a Thunder team that currently stands at 13-44.

While the record might be unconvincing, the Thunder and Kevin Durant have played their hearts out nearly every game, including a recent game against the Los Angeles Lakers where the Thunder came from 18 down to cut the lead to one before finally losing by six. Durant had a modest 32 points, 10 rebounds, and six assist game in the process.

KD has had three 40-point games so far, with his most recent a career high of 47 in a losing effort against the New Orleans Hornets. Durant also made a spectacle of himself over the All Star weekend where he set a record for most points in the rookie-sophomore game by eclipsing the previous record of 36 by Amare Stoudemire, with a 46-point burst and also grabbing seven rebounds in the process.

He also impressed a lucky few who were able to see the H-O-R-S-E competition by beating out O.J. Mayo and Joe Johnson to win an ugly trophy.

The No. 2 pick in last year's draft has already proved to many to be the deserved No. 1 pick over Greg Oden after showing up to every game as a premier player, while Oden rides the bench with a new injury every other week.

Durant has not succumbed to many injuries yet, he played in 80 of 82 games last year and has missed only one game so far this year.

Durant has greatly improved his shot as well, averaging 48 percent from the field compared to the 43 percent he averaged last year. His three-point shot is getting scary good as well, averaging a three per game at 44 percent. The 26 points he's averaging is fourth in the league, a few points behind players like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade and ahead of superstars such as Dirk Nowitzki, Brandon Roy, and Chris Bosh.

Durant has gone unnoticed though this year due to the minimal publicity for the new Oklahoma City team. The Thunder are an up and coming team with a young lineup that features future all stars in Jeff Green and Russel Westbrook, who complement Durant very well in the Thunder's system.

They might not be the team of the present, but they are the future of the NBA. Durant leads the team in a number of categories including points, field goal percentage, free throw percentage, three-point percentage, steals, and blocks.

While he might appear to be a lanky, weak kid that came out of college too early, he is the next best thing coming into the NBA—26 points per game for a 20-year-old, two years out of college is berserk.

It's hard to believe that he's only two years older than me and is already leading a team to future stardom and perhaps even an MVP in the near future.