Kevin Durant: ‘Season wasn’t totally wasted because we didn’t win a championship’

Even after a heartbreaking Game 6 loss to the San Antonio Spurs of the Western Conference Championship series that eliminated his Oklahoma City Thunder from title contention, Kevin Durant remains proud of his team and what they accomplished during the 2013-14 season.

Durant scored 31 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough as the Thunder fell to the Spurs in overtime on Saturday night, 112-107.

In his season-ending news conference, Durant refused to downplay the season his Thunder had, despite not walking away with the Larry O’Brien trophy, per Royce Young of ESPN.com.

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As far as individual success is concerned, Durant had arguably the greatest season of his young career, walking away with the 2013-14 NBA Most Valuable Player award. He averaged 32.0 points, 7.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists, becoming the fourth player in league history to average such numbers; the last one was Michael Jordan in 1988-89.

His 32.0 points earned him his fourth NBA scoring title, joining Jordan, Allen Iverson, George Gervin and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players to win four. Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks was a full 4.6 points behind at 27.4.

The Thunder finished the season with a record of 59-23, good enough for second in the Western Conference. They were tested in the opening round against Mike Conley and the Memphis Grizzlies, but ultimately prevailed in seven games. Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and the Los Angeles Clippers put up a fight, but the Thunder took care of them in the second round in six.