Phoenix Suns F Kevin Durant Shares MVP Pick, Thoughts on How Award Has Changed

Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant recently appeared on The ETCs podcast and explained his thoughts on the MVP award.

Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant has never really shied away from hiding his thoughts, especially since becoming more prominent on social media and other mediums such as podcasting. Durant is a strong representation of the modern athlete: Fully capable of doing what they do best but also branching out and exploring other interests in the public light. 

With any other award race, the NBA's race for Most Valuable Player has been one of great discussion this season. The battle between the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic have seen their names tied at the top of this year's list. 

Embiid - the only one out of the group to not have won the honor - has an especially strong case this season. Durant picked him to win the MVP award on his podcast, but not before making an interest comment on the award itself:

"It still matters, you still have to play at that level to become a MVP," Durant said. "So that journey and grind still matters. The mystique of being an MVP - it's not what it once was.  We talk about it too much, simply put … We were looking behind the curtain for too long now."

Durant expanded on why Embiid was his pick:

"He was my pick last year too … He's just dominant. He's just flat-out unstoppable …  It's not like giving him sympathy for never getting one, but he's playing at a dominant level for this long -the last two years has been at an insane level, like come on now. What more does he have to do come MVP? And they're winning basketball games too."

Full podcast:

If anybody knows about the MVP award, it would be Durant, who won the award back in the 2013-14 season.