this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2023
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I know it’s unfair to bring up his name hear because he had a great overall career and has great longevity as well, but in terms of individual awards, Kevin Durant was kind of an early bloomer.
He was the NBA scoring champ in 2010, 2011, 2012 & 2014, at age 21-25. He never won it after that again. He was in the Top-2 of the MVP Awards in 2010, 2012, 2013 & 2014, at age 21-25. He never was in the Top-3 after that again. He was in the All NBA First Team from 2010-2014, at age 21-25. He reached the First Team only once after that (in 2018 at age 29).
So in terms of individual success, at least in the regular season, KD had an early prime.
I like this analysis, but then I also remember him carrying the Olympic team to gold in 2020 (really 2021). He was easily the best player on a team full of All-Star/HoF types.
I actually think a lot of his "decline" could just be explained by Steph Curry happening. Warriors took over the conference and then KD joined them a couple years later. All of that hurt his individual accolades, apart from the two FMVPs, which you didn't mention.
I remember him completely cooking Australia. As crazy as it sounds I think we could've actually beaten the USA if KD wasn't playing, which is pretty crazy when you compare the lineups!