Warriors forward Kevin Durant is now a Finals MVP and NBA champion. But this past season, partly due to a late February knee injury, he wasn't among the top three in any of the individual regular season awards.
They were all announced on Monday night during the league's inaugural NBA Awards show from New York City. The day after, Durant sent out his thoughts and congratulations on the awards via his YouTube page, including the MVP, won by his former teammate Russell Westbrook.
"I called out this years MVP years ago so you gotta respect my knowledge for the game lol," Durant wrote. "Huge congrats to Russell Westbrook on MVP, that boy went out there and was a created player on 2k all year, (expletive) balled out. Gotta respect it!"
Durant started his comment thread about the awards by mentioning his teammate, Draymond Green, who won Defensive Player of the Year: "Shoutout Draymond. Congrats champ."
Then he mentioned all the other major awards.
"So happy for (Rookie of the Year) Malcolm Brogdon, what a year and accomplishment," Durant wrote. "Especially as a second round pick! Anything is possible people, I see a very bright future for him and his teammate Giannis (Antetokounmpo). Congrats on (Most Improved Player), this dude is a specimen that we've never seen before and it's guaranteed that he will be an MVP one day!"
Durant then peppered that congratulatory statement to Westbrook _ which is all everyone was looking for _ before continuing down the list.
"Shoutout to (Coach of the Year) Mike D'Antoni, came back to the game and turned that franchise into a contender," Durant wrote. "Respect!! Shoutout my boy James Harden. For 5 years now he's taken his game to the next level, he will be an MVP one day, he's an MVP now, he's made so many people proud. I know this firsthand, recognize what he has done for the game! "
Durant then closed with a shout out to Sixth Man of the Year Eric Gordon and his "stellar play" before closing with an all-caps statement to those who say this wasn't a great season in the NBA.
"What a year, don't disrespect these players or this beautiful game by saying this year was a down year for the NBA," Durant wrote. "The whole league showed out and pushed the league to a better place!! I'm so grateful to be a part of it!! Can't wait to see what's in store next season."
