Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant and His Place Among the NBA's Elite

Kevin Durant is a great player. But how great?

He’s a two-time All-Star, two-time scoring champion, and has taken the Thunder from the doldrums to the verge of the NBA mountain's peak in just a few short seasons.

At 6’10”, Durant has an unmatchable wingspan on the perimeter and has proven he can play down low in the post. He is capable of scoring from literally anywhere on the court.

If I took the name out of the preceding statements and had someone unfamiliar with the NBA read them, they’d more than likely say that that guy was one of the best in the NBA and probably the best.

But, if you look around, you’ll see that no one really thinks that.

Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and now even Dirk Nowitzki all seem to get top billing over Durant.

I suppose there are a lot of rationales one could use to defend giving those players the edge over Durant. He’s too young, he hasn’t played long enough, and he has no MVPs or championships.

Each of those makes sense.

But Dirk has barely won one championship and is past the prime of his career. LeBron seems unable to get over the championship hump. Kobe and D-Wade are both getting old and a bit worn down.

Durant is young, but he's the youngest scoring champion ever. He is inexperienced but he's risen to the highest levels of play much quicker than most. He hasn't won an MVP or a championship, but MVPs are based on perception and the Thunder have been too young for a championship.

He's already played in 23 playoff games in his young career, and has won 15 of them. He's averaged 27.7 points and 8 rebounds per game in those contests.

The youth factor can also work to his advantage in such an argument. His lack of a body of work is due merely to age, nothing else. He comes up big in big games and has a knack for getting a big score when his team needs it. By the time he's played as long as some of the other guys I've mentioned, he'll be right up there with them resume-wise.

But what about right now? Is he the best or even close?

I'll agree that it's hard to put him there now without seeing more. But he may well be at the top already. His youth, athleticism and build make him a huge matchup problem even at this early stage of his career.

He might be the most unique player in the game. Does that make him the best? It definitely puts him in the conversation.

Let me know what you guys think in the comments.