Top 30 athletes under 30

4. Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder – 27 years old

We’ve talked about his old running mate, James Harden. We’ve talked about his current teammate, Russell Westbrook but now it’s time to address the only one of those three who has actually won an MVP award.

Kevin Durant may have missed most of last season due to injury, but he’s still a complete baller.

He went from being the AP NCAA Player of the Year with the Texas Longhorns — as a freshman — to averaging 20 points a game in his only year as a Seattle Supersonic. The following year the franchise moved to Oklahoma City, and Durant made sure to bring his game with him.

His three-point percentage jumped from 29 percent to 42 percent, and his points per game went from 20 to 25. In his third season, Durant averaged 30 points per game for the first time — yeah, for the first time. He averaged 32 points per game in the 2013-14 season when he won the NBA MVP award.

Even though the Oklahoma City Thunder lost the 2011-12 NBA Finals to the Miami Heat, Durant still deserves credit for having led the team there when he was only 23 years old.

Durant may have some unique off-the-court drama going on with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith right now, but that really shouldn’t even be a story. The only story worth talking about is what the Thunder will be able to do now that Durant is healthy and has Billy Donovan as his head coach.

KD has already won four scoring titles in his young career, and having Donovan will only help him lock up more.

Next: No. 3 J.J. Watt