Kevin Durant History in The Making: Will He Become NBA's Youngest Ever MVP?

Kevin Durant has the opportunity to make NBA History: by winning the MVP award at the tender age of 22.

The record holder? The great Wes Unseld.

He was 23-years-old when he captured the MVP during the 1968-69 season, which also happened to be his first year in the league.

Times are changing, however; what Unseld accomplished in his first season, Kevin Durant will look to accomplish in his fourth season.

How do you ask? Reduced competition—along with the fact that this man is a freak.

With LeBron jumping ship to South Beach, you expect that he will share MVP votes with Dwyane Wade. Suddenly, two of the top five vote getters from last year's MVP voting are now out of contention.

The other two? Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard.

While both are extraordinary players in their own right, they will have a hard time competing with KD this season.

Kobe is no longer the beast of old, because he doesn't have to be: No longer does he have to put up 30 points to win a game, and he doesn't look to do so. That comes with having one of the best power forwards in the league beside you on a nightly basis. He'll still get his own, probably score upwards of 20 a night, but that is hardly MVP-like numbers. Kobe will get his votes because he is the best player on a championship team.

As for Dwight: it's interesting. If he could up his scoring by, say, five or so points, then it would be a lot different. He may very well steal that hardware right from under Durant's nose. But, for now, I think the young kid has his number. I think the only hardware he'll have is the Defensive Player of the Year.

The scary thing is, Kevin Durant isn't in his prime yet; he may still get better. And what is better than giving the Lakers one of the hardest series they had all playoffs, with a team as young as the Thunder were?

His teammates will be better too—the Thunder are a young and up and coming team, a few pieces short of being propelled into the stratosphere of champions. In three or four years, we will be watching the Thunder and the Heat slug it out for the Championship. They broke 50 wins last season and will look to push 55 in 2010-2011.

Durant recently just finished destroying the world at the FIBA Championships, leading the USA to its first victory in 16 years.

He was a unanimous pick for the Tournament MVP, and rightly deserved too. He made it look easy on the world stage.

His scoring will very possibly increase as well. Durant is the youngest scoring champ in history, at 21-years-old. It wouldn't surprise me to see him push upwards of 33, 34, or even 35 points a game this season. As he gets older and stronger, he may be able to push the rebounding up, which will only help his cause.

Last year, he finished second to the King in voting. Now that LeBron is chasing the Championship, it's time Durant chased the MVP Award.