Former Longhorn basketball star Kevin Durant has been tabbed the winner of the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy as the 2007-08 T-Mobile NBA Rookie of the Year, the NBA announced Thursday. He is the first former Longhorn and first SuperSonics player to win the prestigious award.
Durant received 90 first-place votes and 545 total points from a panel of 125 media throughout the United States and Canada. Atlanta’s Al Horford finished second in the voting with 390 points, while Houston’s Luis Scola placed third with 146 points.
The second overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, Durant averaged a team-best and NBA-rookie-high 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists while playing in 80 games (all starts). His scoring average was 7.6 points higher than any other rookie in the league. Durant was the only NBA rookie to lead his team in five statistical categories (points, blocks, steals, free throws made and free throw percentage), and he also blocked more shots (75) than any other guard in the league.
A five-time T-Mobile Western Conference Rookie of the Month selection (November, December, January, March and April), Durant led the Sonics in scoring 47 times. He scored at least 20 points a total of 47 times and recorded at least 30 points on seven occasions. Durant posted a career-high 42 points against Golden State on April 16.
The Eddie Gottlieb Trophy is named in honor of Eddie Gottlieb, one of the NBA’s founders who coached the Philadelphia Warriors to the NBA Championship in 1946-47.
