Separating Durant’s MVP season from this season
For Durant, there’s really only one season that rivals this one as the best of his career.
That’s the 2013-2014 season, his seventh in the NBA. Thriving with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Durant put up a career-high 32.0 points per game. Along with 7.4 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game, Durant was one another level, securing his only MVP award.
The five-time All-NBA first team member has finished top-three in MVP voting four times in his career. Although he might not even get there again due to Golden State’s absurd amount of elite talent, Durant can rest in the fact that no other player in the league is doing what he is.
Another surprising number from Durant’s 2018-2019 campaign is his +15.8 on/off court difference. Meaning, the Warriors are significantly better than their opponent with the former MVP on the court. Not even Stephen Curry, Durant’s two-time MVP teammate, can match that total.
That what separates this season from his time in OKC. Without Durant, the Warriors are marginally better than their opponent.
The Warriors need Kevin Durant to succeed, and at this point, he may be the only one holding this ship together.