Kevin Durant, From MVP to Afterthought

It wasn't too long ago that Kevin Durant was taking the league by storm, capturing scoring titles and the hearts of fans league wide in the process. Prior to the 2010-2011 season, the Thunder inked Durant to a 5-year $86 million deal that now seems like a bargain. That year, Durant lead the league in scoring for a second consecutive year, an award he has now won 4 times. His length, shooting as well as the development of his all around game had many analysts saying it was only a matter of time before he dethroned King James as the NBA's best player.

The argument for KD as the best took a hit in the 2011-2012 season when Durant and the Thunder lost the Finals in 5 games to LeBron's Heat. Still, the future for the Thunder and Durant looked bright with a young core. During this time it had become a foregone conclusion that Durant was far and away the second best player behind only James and one day it would be his league. That thought was only further pushed to the forefront the next two seasons in which he joined the 50-40-90 club then followed it up the next season by winning the MVP award. Even with playoff exits before ever reaching the finals again Durant never received much blame and still, nobody doubted him as a top 2 player.

He was on top of the world, and then, injuries struck. Last season could not have been more forgetful for Durant who just could not shake the injury bug no matter how hard he tried. It started with a Jones fracture before the start of the season that sidelined him for the first 17 games. He returned in December for only a few weeks before injuring is ankle a few weeks later. The injuries didn't stop there, a sprained big toe as well as a minor procedure to reduce pain in the foot that sidelined him to start the season. Durant finished the season playing only 27 games but he got a front row seat to see

Russell Westbrook's heroics nearly sneak the Thunder into the 8th seed.

The Warriors winning the Finals ignited the Steph Curry bandwagon catapulting him up the player ranking boards, sometimes even up to the top spot. It seems like now when people talk about the best player in the league names like LeBron, Steph, even Anthony Davis and James Harden garner praise but did we all forget about Kevin Durant?  In a 'what have you done for me lately" society we have let one injury plagued season make us forget just how dominant Durant has been up to this point in his career.

Remember the Kevin Durant that would enter press conference rooms with his backpack on and ESPN would be there to cover it all? That attention has not fully returned but by no fault of Durant's because the numbers have been there. So far this season Durant ranks 3rd in the NBA in player efficiency rating behind only teammate Russell Westbrook and Steph Curry. Also, Durant is second this season in true shooting percentage behind only Curry, in a statistic that does not feature many forwards at the top. Still, Durant has had to climb his way back to the mountain top he was once on and this season, one in which he is less than 1% free throw percentage point away from putting himself in the 50-40-90 club again, could be just what he needs to get there.

The Thunder are currently 28-12, good for the 3rd seed in a top heavy Western Conference and they are beginning to look like real contenders. The pressure will be on the Thunder to make sure they can retain both Durant and Westbrook moving forward. One thing however is for certain, the league should be put on notice, Durant is still a force that can make any team a consistent contender for as long as he plays.