James finishes second in voting while Griffin makes up top three.
Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant has been named league MVP on Tuesday, collecting 119 first-place votes to secure the award.
It has been widely expected that the 25-year-old would be named MVP this season, and it has finally been confirmed after the other awards were distributed with Michael Carter-Williams named the Rookie of the Year on Monday.
Miami Heat star LeBron James finished in second place, while Blake Griffin, Joakim Noah and James Harden completed the top five.
Durant led the league in scoring during the regular season with 32 points per game and becomes the first player to win both the scoring title and MVP award in the same season since Allen Iverson did it back in 2000-01.
However, while he will undoubtedly be thrilled with receiving the award, he will need to be fully focused on the collective moving forward as after advancing beyond the Memphis Grizzlies in a gruelling 4-3 series win, the Thunder now trail the Los Angeles Clippers after losing Game 1 on Monday night.
Nevertheless, Durant avoids a possibly uncomfortable news conference by making it through to the Western Conference semi-finals, with Dirk Nowitzki forced to collect his MVP trophy in 2007 after the Dallas Mavericks were eliminated in the opening round by the Golden State Warriors.
Durant has received some criticism in the local media due to his inefficiency in recent games, but ultimately he deserves the award and will be looking to bounce back by helping his team take another step towards reaching the NBA finals this year.
News: Kevin Durant named 2013-14 @Kia NBA Most Valuable Player. pic.twitter.com/Oy2O8K1Iy9
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) May 6, 2014
KD's MVP season: 32p, 7.4r, 5.5a per game. 5th All-Star appearance. 4th scoring title in 5 seasons. Captured 118/124 1st place MVP votes.
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) May 6, 2014
COMMENTS