Why Kevin Durant isn't concerning himself with the MVP Conversation

At the end of the regular season, the Most Valuable Player award is given to one player. It's hard not to mention Kevin Durant's name in the year-long conversation each season.

Take it from the Barclays Center crowd, who always floods the 34 year-old with MVP chants during home games. But in his 16th season in the league, Durant, who took home the NBA MVP back in 2014, doesn't care much about being in that conversation and hunting for his second Most Valuable Player award. 

Instead, the 34 year-old simply wants the respect from the Nets fan base and hopes the fans always have a blast watching their favorite team. 

“Nah, no, not really," Durant said. "I mean, I've been there done that to be honest. And I know it's gonna take a lot for me to be in that conversation. So I just want the respect from our fan base and I want them to have a good time when they come to the game. So that's what strikes our chance up, is how I play for the fans as long as they are having a good time. So but I'm not too worried about accolades at this point in my career."

The Nets superstar has collected various amounts of NBA hardware and accomplishments throughout his career. Outside of his one MVP award, Durant long list of prestigious hardware. From his two NBA championships and two NBA Finals MVP awards to being named to the NBA's 75th Anniversary team, he's accomplished what only very few players in the history of the game can relate to. 

There's no secret Durant wants to win at the highest level at this stage of his playing career. The Nets (11-11) now sit at .500 on the young regular season. That was a milestone the superstar wanted to hit after their losing patch in the opening quarter of the season. Once again, Durant mentioned how hitting that milestone will provide the fan base with more support and be more engaged to boost a homecourt advantage feeling. 

“Yeah, that's really what it was. We got so close and we ended up falling two games under 500. So just wanted to - it’s a little milestone we wanted to achieve in the early season, and definitely was motivated to come out here on our home floor and get back to .500," Durant stated. 

"I think it was every game we play at home is so important, because we want to keep our friends engaged and keep them supporting us through just having a good product out on the court, which is playing hard, playing together. We want guys to feel comfortable in our home arena when they take shots. So it's a lot on the line when we play at home. And we want to take advantage of those opportunities.”