Kevin Durant Has Been Unstoppable Lately
To lead the league in scoring at 33-years-old through 12 games after suffering a major Achilles injury just a few years back is remarkable and he currently ranks third in the league in Player Efficiency Rating.
Since the 2015-16 season, the player who finished the regular season with the best PER or Player Efficiency Rating has gone on to win the league MVP award. With a current rating of 29.0, Durant trails just Nikola Jokic (35.1) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (29.7) for the league-lead in PER.
There is still a long way to go this season, but with him leading the league in scoring, showing no signs of slowing down offensively and carrying his team to victories night-in and night-out, there is no way that Kevin Durant can be left out of the MVP discussion right now.
His contributions on both ends of the court have not gone unnoticed by the league, hence why Kevin Durant will most definitely be making his 12th All-Star appearance of his career this season, but something the Nets do need to monitor are his minutes.
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Durant is averaging upwards of 34.5 minutes per game right now, which is the 28th most minutes out of any player in the league. In 35 games last season, Durant averaged 33.1 minutes per game, so getting others to step up so the former league MVP can rest will be essential for this team’s potential postseason success.
“That’s the luxury of having All-Star players that they can do that. Kevin’s obviously elite at scoring and isolating, so there are times when we lean on him but it’s important for our team that we don’t overburden someone like that [Durant],” Nash said in regards to Durant playing every game so far this season.
“So while that is a luxury that he can make plays against anyone, we definitely don’t want to rely on that. That’s the antithesis to our vision. But that is a luxury when he can just rise up and score over people.”
As long as he can remain healthy all season long, Kevin Durant is going to continue being one of the league leaders in almost every offensive scoring category there is and every metric measuring how much he means to his team.
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At 33-years-old and coming off an Achilles tear not too long ago, many players in any sport would be thinking about retirement and what they are going to do after their playing career ends, but for Durant, the thought process is all about winning another championship, the first in Brooklyn Nets history.
