Durant enjoys his star turn in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The night started with the hometown crowd cheering for their favorite Warriors star. The night ended with that same crowd cheering along his star teammate.

This city might belong to Stephen Curry. But the 2019 NBA All-Star game belonged to Kevin Durant.

Team LeBron finished with a 178-164 victory over Team Giannis in Sunday’s All-Star game, as his Warriors teammates played a key part in spoiling Curry’s homecoming. Durant had 31 points while shooting efficiently from the field (10-of-15), from 3 (6-of-9) and from the free-throw line (5-of-5) to win his second All-Star MVP after also winning it in 2012. Durant also became the fourth Warriors’ All-Star MVP, including Paul Arizin (1952), Wilt Chamberlain (1960) and Rick Barry (1967).

Where does Durant’s latest milestone compare to his two NBA titles, two Finals MVPs and lone regular-season MVP?

“It’s all sweet to me. It’s hard to rank,” Durant said. “Everything is special. But it’s cool to be out there with the best players to ever play the game, and to win an MVP in front of my family and friends is pretty sweet. I just keep trying to rack them up, I guess.”

With Durant and Warriors teammate Klay Thompson teaming up with LeBron James, that naturally brought up questions on whether James selected those players partly to recruit them when they become free agents next summer.

Durant has insisted he has not decided, though plenty in NBA circles believe he will sign with the New York Knicks for a bigger role and business portfolio. Thompson has often insisted he has no reason to leave the Warriors because of his three NBA titles, team-oriented culture and talent around him. Instead, Durant and Thompson let their play do the talking.

“He’s hitting big shot after big shot. That’s the most important thing,” Lillard said of Durant. “He’s a very, very high-level basketball player. From being around him, you just see that he’s a regular dude. You hear people saying ‘he’s sensitive’ and those types of things, but you also want a genuine person. So I think people got to choose. But that’s the way he comes off to me when I’ve been around him.”

Durant has been as productive as ever in his third season with the Warriors, averaging 27.6 points on 51.6 percent shooting, 7.0 rebounds and 5.9 assists. Those numbers nearly mirror his career averages amid his 12th NBA season.

No wonder Durant made his 10th NBA All-Star appearance, his eighth as a starter. He climbed to sixth place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list in the league’s All-Star history (250) after surpassing Julius Erving (221) and Bob Pettit (224).

Durant climbed up the scoring list by making baskets in a variety of ways. He threw down a lob from James from the 3-point line. He expectedly relied on his footwork to dominate in the post. He surpisingly became efficient from 3.

“Every one of these guys, you can relate to them on a different level,” Durant said. “A lot of these guys come from the same background and same circumstances, so you relate to them on a different level. All our skills match with each other.”

Few can match Durant’s skills, though. According to Elias Sports Bureau, Durant joined James, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal as the lone players in NBA history to win at least two All-Star MVPs along with at least two Finals MVPs and a regular-season MVP.

Durant won his first All-Star MVP in 2012, a symbolic moment that showed he was ready to be among some of the NBA’s best players. Six years, two NBA titles, two Finals MVPs and one regular-season MVP later, Durant has kept that status intact.

“The first time is always sweeter. I didn’t come in these games expecting to do anything. It just kind of happened.” Durant said. “In 2012, I started to feel like I started to hit that elite level. All that stuff in one year was pretty exciting to me. As a veteran now coming back, winning another MVP is cool to put into the trophy case.”