Raining M.V.P

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Kevin Durant has plenty of scoring titles. Now, he finally has an MVP trophy to go with them. The Oklahoma City Thunder star won the NBA's top individual honor Tuesday, receiving 119 first-place votes. An emotional Durant thanked everyone from his teammates to his mother, Wanda Pratt, at a ceremony in Edmond, Okla., on Tuesday.

"You made us believe, you kept us off the streets, put clothes on our backs, put food on the table," a teary-eyed Durant said to his mother, who was in attendance. "You the real MVP."

Durant also thanked veteran forward Caron Butler, who shortly after signing with the Thunder on March 1 placed a note in Durant's locker that read, "KD MVP."

"I don't really say much in those moments, but I remember that," Durant said. "I go home and I think about that stuff, man. When you got people behind you, you can do whatever."

Durant won his fourth scoring crown in five years by averaging 32 points. The 6-foot-9 forward helped the Thunder go 59-23, second-best in the league, despite playing much of the season without three-time All-Star Russell Westbrook by his side because of a nagging knee injury. "Everything in my life, I had to take it," Durant said. "They're not going to give it to you out of sympathy. I wouldn't want it any other way. This was another case, if I wanted to win the MVP, I had to go take it. I felt that this was the year I did that."

Durant, who averaged 32.0 points, 7.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists, becomes the first player to win both the scoring title and the MVP award in the same season since Allen Iverson did it in 2000-01.