Thunder Historic in Game 1 Win Over Mavericks

Before a bone in his right foot betrayed him two Octobers ago, setting in motion the most trying year of his career, Durant didn't need any reminders about his status in the game. The Maurice Podoloff Trophy, which he won a few months earlier as the league’s Most Valuable Player, offered confirmation that he finally stood alone at the top – ending an almost lifetime frustration with second-place finishes. His popularity had also never been higher after an emotional MVP speech that inspired tears and praise. But three surgeries interrupted Durant's steady ascension, knocking him aside. While sidelined, Durant learned that the game moves on. Fans and media can quickly turn the page, even on a four-time scoring champion authoring a potential Hall of Fame career.

“Yeah, I wasn’t around,” Durant told The Vertical. “And there are two or three players that they kind of talk about as the best. They didn’t really talk about me. It’s not that I was mad or anything like that. I just tried to use all that stuff as extra fuel and I tried to push myself higher.”

Durant's redemptive season mostly went according to plan. He survived the 82-game season without any setbacks to his foot and avoided any other major injuries. He was voted an All-Star starter. He posted the third-most efficient season of his career to finish ahead of his triple-double producing teammate Russell Westbrook in player efficiency rating. He had the longest streak of 20-point games in 25 years (64) – and would’ve reached that total in every game he played this season if he hadn’t strained a hamstring after scoring 14 points before halftime in Washington in November. He became the first player since Michael Jordan in 1988-89 to average at least 28 points, eight rebounds and five assists. He helped the Oklahoma City Thunder return to the postseason after the franchise missed out in his absence. And, most impressive, he somehow kept his pending free agency f-rom being a distraction after it was expected to dominate the discussion.

"I feel good. It was definitely rewarding, as far as my individual season and what I did," Durant told The Vertical. "I expected that I’d be at the same level. I didn’t want to come and reinvent the game. I just wanted to be at the same level I was. I approached it like I did any other year and I feel I played pretty well."

But Durant’s performance was mostly unrecognized, lost in the blinding radiance of other supernovas. Stephen Curry – who won the MVP, an NBA title and emerged as the huggable face of the league during Durant's lost season – became even more popular, leaving everyone else mesmerized by his immaculate jumper and Golden State's improbable run at 73 wins. Westbrook – whom Durant called the team's "best player" in November – also hogged most of the spotlight with a nightly assault on rims and the stat sheet.

"That’s a good place to be," Durant told the Vertical. "You got LeBron James, the guy goes out there and gets 28, seven and seven, and then there’s a guy who gets 22 points for the first time and they compare the two. That’s kind of the way I feel right now. How I’ve been playing this year, I’ve been doing that the last five or six years, and it’s, ‘Well, you’re good, but you’ve been playing like this for a while.’ And when a new guy comes on the scene, it’s easy to say, 'Well, he’s coming.' But he hasn’t done it as many years. I like knowing I’ve been playing at such a high level for such a long time. That’s what I want. I want that consistency in my game, every single year. I’ve grown as a player and in my production, all that stuff, but I know I could be a better player."

Leaning on the encouragement of his family, friends, closest advisers and trainers, Durant stayed positive through all of the stutters and stops. He attacked his rehabilitation, refusing to accept that the setback in his foot would diminish his standing in the league. Seven words kept him going until he finally made his return. "I had the mindset I always had as a kid – that I’m going to go out there and play like I’m the best player on the court, every chance I get," Durant told The Vertical. "I’m not going to use any excuses. If I’m out there, I’m healthy. I’ve been out and looked at it as, well, I haven’t been out there for such a long time, it’s not going to matter if I go out there and just played mediocre basketball. So I just held myself to an incredible standard and just tried to reach it every night."

Durant’s dogged determination led to some frustrating moments early in the season, but he told The Vertical: “I had to slow down. I wanted to get just back into what I was doing before, but I had to realize that I’m human and it’ll come in time. I was telling myself to be patient."

Before he made his relatively triumphant return to the postseason Saturday night, scoring 23 points in the Thunder’s 108-70 Game 1 win over the the Dallas Mavericks, Durant couldn’t help but remember whe-re he was this time a year ago – stuck at his home in Oklahoma City and mostly bedridden while recovering f-rom his final procedure, a bone-graft surgery that has spelled doom for many players his size. “I would watch the games, wanting to be in that atmosphere again, and I was just like, ‘Damn,’ ” Durant told The Vertical. “God is good, but I’ve got another opportunity to play at the highest level and I just want to take advantage of it. I have the mindset that I’m going to be the best player I can be.”