Villain vindicated: What the Finals MVP award meant for Durant’s title win

After jumping from Oklahoma City to Golden State, Kevin Durant was called many names.

Snake. Traitor. Villain.

Just about every word with a negative connotation could have been affixed to the former MVP and it would sound just about right. Longtime analyst Stephen A. Smith even stood by his declaration all season long that Durant’s move to Oakland is “the weakest move ever seen from a superstar.”

Despite all this, no insult in the world probably bogged him down more than the thought that the ring he’s been in search of for a decade had eluded him. No amount of scoring titles and MVP awards could quench his ultimate thirst for the real deal: the NBA championship.

Today, all that came to an end. With a mind-bogglingly efficient showcase of talents on basketball’s biggest stage, Kevin Durant did not only end his 10-year odyssey for the NBA Championship, but he also nabbed the Bill Russell Finals MVP award along the way – capping the night off with 39 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists on 14-of-20 shooting.

Plain and simple, Durant still took the easiest way out. For all time, there will be no denying that fact. And he knew it just as well as we do.

That being said, he had two choices as he lived with his decision. With the title practically walking towards him, he could have chosen to sit back and cruise along with his new crew of world-class talent. But he didn’t. With the “Golden” (yes, that pun exactly) opportunity right in front of him, he kept light on his toes and honed his craft even more, like the opportunity was never there. He improved in areas we didn’t think could still improve, mainly his defense and scoring, and kept improving by the day. You could almost think that he was the one in Cleveland protecting the championship as he posted career-highs in field goal percentage, steals and blocks with less time to burn and less touches to play with.

For him, it didn’t matter that he was riding along with 3 other All-Stars, one of whom is a former two-time MVP. He knew he was a leader through and through – a part of the system but never beyond it. He is a pillar who would be needed no matter how strong the foundations are.

Despite standing tall in the end, he never basked in the spotlight the media was drowning him in. Even at his finest moment, giving his Finals MVP speech, he didn’t make it about him.

“It’s a team sport. You wanna achieve the highest honor in a team sport which is winning a championship, and to do it with these guys is amazing.”

“You guys were great tonight – we needed it. We’re champs now. I appreciate it.”

In the end, none of the negativity mattered. Not our scathing columns, not the general media noise, not the disdain of the public. It didn’t even matter that his team got the season’s longest winning streak while he was down with an injury. He knew he was a piece the team didn’t even need at first so he worked to earn that recognition. 

Throughout the playoffs, he made the world along with the city of Oakland realize that even on the easy path, he took nothing for granted and respected the game like he always had. In the end, he earned the distinction of being just the third Finals MVP to win the 48-year-old award in his first season on the winning team (Magic Johnson and Moses Malone were the other two).

More than just a validation of his desire to win, this unique achievement speaks volumes to the dedication it took him to quickly adapt and contribute to a new culture.

As the fictional Doctor Emmett Brown once said from the Back to the Future film series, “Your future is whatever you make it, so make it a good one.”

Kevin Durant is doing just that. Yes, the future will be repetitive, as no one is really expected to dislodge the new champs anytime soon. But as this playoffs showed, Durant is giving his best, literally and statistically, to entertain the fans while he’s on top.

What else can we say? You’re the real MVP. – Rappler.com