The Association's experts look at Kevin Durant's career and his chances of moving to No. 5 all-time in scoring.
You can completely envision Kevin Durant walking into a room and wondering where everyone went.
The “room” in question contains legendary players from a previous era lined up to compete annually in the Kia Race to the MVP. One by one, however, they’ve quietly slipped out the back door: Stephen Curry and LeBron James mainly.
The room is now dominated by others, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokić mainly. They’ve been fixtures near the top of the Kia MVP Ladder for two years running now. Giannis Antetokounmpo has also been a Ladder mainstay, but took a leave of absence this season because of a lack of games played to qualify for the award.
But, Durant? Remarkably, this deep into his career, he’s still in the very selective and exclusive room. He’s the only player from the last generation still representing with regard to the award this season. He’s occupying a rung on the ladder, at No. 9 this week.
It’s a salute to his greatness, of course, as one of the game’s all-time scorers, but also his ability to maintain a high level of play here at age 37. Curry and LeBron, who, unlike Durant, own multiple MVPs, are also enjoying productive seasons. But will either get top-10 MVP votes when the ballots are collected next month? Perhaps not.
Those three will be forever attached, a trio of legends who carried the league for much of the last 15 seasons, took teams deep into the post-season, elevated their play when it counted most and collectively won 10 championships.
Durant separated himself from those two, however, at least for this season. The four-time scoring champ is currently among the top-10 scorers and shooting 51% overall and 40.1% on 3-pointers. He’s still commanding double-teams. He has only missed four games, displaying the durability that Curry and James lack. And he has the Houston Rockets in the thick of the Western Conference playoff hunt, comfortably above the sixth-place cutoff.
At a time when most stars his age settle into a comfort zone where they’re secondary options for their teams and only occasionally drop hints of a previous life on a given night on the schedule, Durant isn’t yet ready to take a victory lap. He’s still in the race — in this instance, the race to be saluted as one of the best players of 2025-26.
Setting the stage this week: As Durant and the Rockets try to climb a pair of ladders — MVP and West standings — they’ll need to navigate some formidable roadblocks in the week ahead. First up, the Spurs and Victor Wembanyama on an NBC game Sunday night (8 p.m. ET), then Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets next Wednesday. The Spurs are comfortably ahead of the Rockets, although the teams could meet in the West semifinals if the seedings hold firm. Meanwhile, the Nuggets, though faltering, could rise and replace Houston in the standings if and when they get healthy.
The stat to know: Durant has averaged at least 26 points a season for every franchise in which he has played for (the Thunder, Warriors, Nets, Suns and now, Rockets) and he’s in his 18th season. The last and only time in his career that he failed to average 25 ppg was his rookie season, spent in Seattle, which of course moved to OKC the next season. In addition, he has also made at least half his shots in a season for every team and he’s averaging 51% for the Rockets. He’s a supreme bucket-getter.
What they are saying: “Some people are going to say that I should pass the ball. I think I have a better chance of winning if I shoot it.” — Anthony Edwards of the Timberwolves, No. 7 on the ladder this week, explaining his confidence and strategy in clutch situations. He’s tied with Luka Dončić for most 40-point games this season.
1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
Last week’s ranking: No. 1 ↔️
Season stats: 31.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.4 assists
His case: Since his return from an abdominal injury suffered before the All-Star break, Gilgeous-Alexander has justified his lofty spot on the MVP Ladder. He sparkled in three games, all wins, two against contending teams.
His 36 points and nine assists not only beat the Nuggets but also outshone the effort by Jokić, his direct competitor on the ladder. Then, in a Ladder point guard matchup with Jalen Brunson, Gilgeous-Alexander delivered a solid 26-point, eight-assist performance. Gilgeous-Alexander remains second in the league in scoring and is shooting 55% overall, too.
2. Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets
Last week’s ranking: No. 2 ↔️
Season stats: 28.6 points, 12.6 rebounds, 10.4 assists
His case: Aside from his passing and scoring, rebounding is what sets Jokić apart from his peers. He leads the league in overall rebounding average but also defensive rebounding average at 9.5. If you removed his offensive rebounds and just went with his defensive rebounds, he would rank 10th among the total rebound average of players this season.
The Nuggets have dropped in the standings since his return in late January from knee hyperextension, but two losses were in overtime and three others were by a combined six points. Also, he averaged 25.6 ppg, 14 rpg and 9.6 apg in February.
3. Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons
Last week’s ranking: No. 3 ↔️
Season stats: 25.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 9.8 assists
His case: The freshly named Player of the Week celebrated with a pair of inefficient shooting games, with five turnovers and four field goals against the Cavs, and then 10-for-26 shooting against the Spurs, both losses. But of course, his season is much more than a pair of uncharacteristic performances.
He beat the Cavs and OKC in consecutive games last week and averaged 27.5 points and 10 assists in the process. Cunningham averaged 25 points and 10 assists in February, with wins over the Knicks (twice), the Cavs and the hot Hornets, all of whom had solid point guards to challenge him.
4. Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs
Last week’s ranking: No. 4 ↔️
Season stats: 23.7 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.9 blocks
His case: Wembanyama is coming off his most complete game of the season, a 38-point, 16-rebound, five-block demolition of the Pistons. From a both-ends-of-the-floor standpoint, it doesn’t get much better than that, and he’s positioning himself to rise on the Ladder.
Wembanyama averaged 11 rebounds and three blocks in February as the Spurs went 11-0 that month. Also consider that for much of February, he played on reduced minutes to keep him fresh for the stretch run and was still productive.
5. Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics
Last week’s ranking: No. 6 ⬆️
Season stats: 28.9 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5 assists
His case: Jayson Tatum might be on tap to finally return for the Celtics, and he’ll be welcomed, but Boston’s MVP candidate is Brown, whose position on the ladder is partly, if not mostly, due to Tatum’s absence all season. That’s quite the irony.
But Brown has excelled on both ends of the floor without Tatum, improved his ball-handling and ability to score multiple ways, and most of all has the Celtics in second place in the East. No other star has exceeded higher expectations this season.
The next 5:
6. Luka Dončić, Los Angeles Lakers ⬇️
7. Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves ⬆️
8. Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers ⬇️
9. Kevin Durant, Houston Rockets ⬆️
10. Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks ⬇️
And five more (listed alphabetically): Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns; Jalen Duren, Detroit Pistons; Jalen Johnson, Atlanta Hawks; Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers; Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers
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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA since 1985. You can e-mail him at spowell@nba.com, find his archive here and follow him on X.
