What goes into making a superstar NBA player? It’s obviously a combination of talent, size, discipline, intelligence (whether it’s IQ or the basketball version, it’s no matter), and coachability. Kevin Durant gets high marks in all of those categories, and then some. He even has the intangibles that everyone wants in their hometown superstar. He is great in the community, as you might expect, but you know that with Durant, it’s genuine. You know this because his parents are hard-working, intelligent people who raised their son correctly. You know this because he has spent his past two summers taking some summer school classes in order to get a little bit closer to earning his college degree. I don’t know about you, but if I was a multi-millionaire at 20 years old, I certainly would not be spending time in a classroom, earning a degree that I will never put on any resume’. He is a class act, but that’s just the beginning.

Durant’s superstardom potential lies in the stats, at least in my mind, because I am no more of an NBA scout or development coach than I am a NBA player myself. Let’s put into perspective the fact that KD is only 20 years old (21 on September 23rd). He has led his team in scoring his first two years in the league, on a team that seriously lacked in experience, if not talent. In his rookie campaign of 07-08, Durant averaged 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists on 43% shooting. In his second year on the trail, he averaged 25.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists, a huge improvement from the year before. These numbers are not only impressive for any NBA player, but they hold up exceptionally well when compared with the rookie seasons of many other prominent young NBA draft picks of the last 10-15 years.

Let’s start with the best personal comparison and work backwards. In 2003, an 18-year-old Carmelo Anthony led his Syracuse Orangemen (mascot has since change to simply “Orange” for PC purposes) to the NCAA National Championship and was subsequently selected with the 3rd overall (way to go Joe Dumars) pick in the June draft of that year after leaving Syracuse with only one year completed at the college level . That fact is the reason he is the best comparison to KD, because his case is such a rarity due to recent restrictions on high school players jumping straight to the pros. He went on the lead the Nuggets in scoring his rookie season with 21 points per game on 42.6% shooting. He also averaged 6.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists. The tale of the tape comes in his 2nd NBA season, where Anthony’s scoring dipped to 20.8 points per game, even though he shot a slightly higher percentage from the floor. That year, Carmelo saw less overall floor time, and some say that the pressure of his teammates and the opposition’s habit of double teaming him really got to him in his second season. Carmelo’s scoring has since dropped two years in a row, after peaking at 28.9 PPG in the 06-07 season. Kevin Durant clearly has the edge on Anthony at this stage of his career, especially given the odd nature of Anthony’s sudden drop-off at such a young age.

The other player that I think it’s important to compare Durant to, is the Black Mamba, Kobe Bryant. He is widely regarded as the best player in the world, and has been thought of in that light for quite a while. Though LeBron may get all the press clippings and YouTube views (except that one video….), Bryant has earned 4 championship rings, which is 4 more than the King can claim at this moment in time. Though somewhat of an unfair comparison due to Kobe’s decision to declare for the draft immediately after his high school graduation, he is regarded as the best, and therefore he is the standard by which all other NBA players are measured. In Bryant’s first NBA season, he saw moderate court time and was a solid bench player for the 96-97 LA Lakers which featured Shaquille O’Neal, Eddie Jones, and Nick Van Exel. By the end of his first season, Bryant averaged 7.6 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.3 assists. His second season, he began to come into his own, averaging 15.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists. Even though Kobe’s first year was spent on a deep NBA bench, the progression he made learning under NBA legend Del Harris compares favorably with KD’s one college season.

I believe that Kobe’s stats, or lack thereof, show the shear skill and potential of a 20-year-old Durant. It has taken years for Kobe to morph into the Mamba, so who says that the lanky killer can’t make the same type of progression in the near future? I believe that he can, and dare I say, he will. If the uptick in his stats from year 1 to year 2 is any indication, I believe that Oklahoma City has an NBA MVP in the making.

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