Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant has been named the NBA's Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the season - ending Miami Heat's LeBron James' 198 games MVP reign.
Durant received 1,232 points, including 119 first-place votes out of 124 from the panel of sports writers and broadcasters from the United States and Canada. The ballot also included the NBA.com MVP fan votes.
An emotional Durant thanked everyone for the support and believing in him at a ceremony attended by his mother, Oklahoma mayor and thousands of fans.
"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. "You the real MVP."
"I don't really say much in those moments, but I remember that. I go home and I think about that stuff, man. When you got people behind you, you can do whatever."
Durant is averaging 32 points this season and won his fourth scoring crown in five years. The 6-foot-9 forward has become the first player since Allen Iverson to win both scoring and MVP crowns in the same season.
"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."
James - who had won four of previous five MVP awards - was second in the ballot with 891 points and six first-place votes. Blake Griffin was third, while Joakim Noah and James Harden completed the top-five places.
When reports first surfaced on Monday that Durant would be named the new MVP, James offered his best wishes and said he deserves the award.
"Much respect to him. He deserves it. He had a big-time MVP season," James said on Monday. "He deserved it, for sure. It's big-time on his part. His maturity level went up every single season both on and off the floor."
OKC coach Scott Brooks said Durant is a tremendous player and the team is proud of what he has achieved this season.
"He is self-motivated," Brooks said. "He's a tremendous kid that does everything for his team. We are proud of him because he gives everything he has. He does it every night and his consistency is remarkable."
Catch the emotional MVP speech by Kevin Durant HERE or HERE.
