The Top 10 Small Forwards in the NBA
By Tom Atkinson
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Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder)
Age: 27
2015-16 Per Game Averages: 28.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1.2 blocks.
Career Per Game Averages: 27.4 points, 7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.2 steals, 1 block.
One of the two MVPs on this (just in case you somehow didn’t know who first place would be), Kevin Durant is a truly elite player, regardless of what you think about his move to Golden State.
He won the Most Valuable Player award in 2014, but in the following season struggled with injuries. In the gap, Russell Westbrook (also number two in his position) became an MVP-standard elite and there were some doubts as to how KD would adapt to co-exist with his point guard.
"“I had to think the game differently,” Durant said, via Lee Jenkins of Sports Interactive. “How can I still be me without taking away from him? That was my challenge. I was used to having the ball in my hands all the time and scoring 35 points. Now we have all these other people—Russ, Enes, Dion, Serge—and we’re a better team. So when I get shots, I have to be super-efficient. I can’t expend energy trying to dunk on people. I have to take every shot like it’s my last one, like it’s a game-winner.”"
Durant certainly managed to stay relevant. With the third best points average of his career, the second highest assists and the most rebounds, Durantula kept his place as the best offensive small forwards in the NBA as one half of the most dominant duo.
A four-time scoring champ by the age of 27, Kevin Durant is one of the top-five players in the NBA. It would take some pretty special to be better in his position than him, huh? It’d have to be some kind of royalty.
Next: No. 1