Kevin Durant Named 2010 Oklahoman of the Year by Oklahoma Magazine

Published by admin in Blog on December 16th, 2010 | 1

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (December 16, 2010) – At 10 a.m. today, Oklahoma Today magazine announced on Twitter the 2010 Oklahoman of the Year: Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Durant is featured in the January/February 2011 issue of the magazine.

“I can’t put into words how cool it is to be here,” said Durant. “I’m happy I’m here. God has put me in a great place because it’s the perfect place for me.”

In 2010, Durant, who signed a five-year contract extension with the Thunder over the summer, became the youngest-ever NBA scoring champion with 30.1 points per game. He led Team USA to a gold medal at the FIBA World Championships and yesterday was named 2010 Male Athlete of the Year by USA Basketball. He also was runner-up to LeBron James for the NBA’s MVP award. The Thunder is midway into its third season.

“KD is an amazing athlete who really knows how to play the game,” said LeBron James. “Besides being an unbelievable talent, he’s a great guy who understands what it means to be a role model. Oklahoma City is lucky to have KD.”

Durant was a Twitter sensation earlier this year when he announced his contract extension via the social media site; he was also a trending worldwide Twitter topic—one of the ten most-tweeted topics in the world—during the early rounds of the FIBA tournament.

Clayton I. Bennett, chairman of the Oklahoma City Thunder basketball ownership group, was the 2008 Oklahoman of the Year. Durant is the nineteenth honoree. Past recipients have included Garth Brooks (1992), the Oklahoma City Fire Department (1995), David Boren (1998), and Dr. Ramona Paul (2009). The complete list is on the magazine’s website homepage.

“That’s an unbelievable honor,” Durant said. “So many great people have lived in the state of Oklahoma. A lot of great people have come through here. Then they pick me, only being here for a couple of years; I’m very honored and blessed and also humbled. It’s a great award to receive. Playing this game of basketball, you’re going to receive a lot of trophies and awards—to have Oklahoman of the Year kind of stands out to me. It’s a lot more than just a basketball award. It shows that I’ve come a long way as a person, as a player.”

The article was written by Oklahoma Today senior editor Steffie Corcoran. Portraits of Durant by photographer John Jernigan appear in the issue.

The issue will arrive to subscribers beginning December 18 and will appear on newsstands at the beginning of January. The article can be found in its entirety in PDF format on the magazine’s website and Facebook page. Oklahoma Today’s Twitter feed is @oklahomatoday.

For more information, contact the magazine’s editor, Louisa McCune-Elmore , at (405) 230-8450 or mccune@oklahomatoday.com or on Twitter at @louisamqn.

Tags: 2010 Oklahoman of the Year, Awards, Kevin Durant, Oklahoma Today Magazine, Press Releases