Kevin Durant has rushed to the top of the MVP (Most Valuable Player) favorites. They have climbed to the best record in the NBA without Russell Westbrook, their second best player.

Riding on KD's shoulders, he will be the last to say that he did it all by himself. That is true, the whole team stepped up, and Reggie Jackson may be in the conversation for Most Improved Player. Yet, no one can deny, Durant's stretch of 10 games with over 30 points each is MVP material. Not even Lebron would disagree.

Kevin Durant spoke to ESPN Radio during the All-Star Break:

On the secret behind their winning ways after registering a 5-5 record after Westbrook went down: "We just figured it out. Defensively, I think, is where we made strides. That's where we're going to win basketball games, if we defend. And I think what really clicked for us, we lost to Memphis, a tough game in Memphis, then we played Houston and we gave up 73 points in the first half, then 19 points in the second half, and I think everybody in our locker room knew why we won that basketball game. Solely just based off defensive pressure, physicality and just playing together on the offensive end and after that we ran off 10 straight and we're just trying to keep it up."

Will they keep it up all the way to the title? Most people forgot OKC especially when Westbrook went down again. Some where even questioning Scott Brooks as a coach. That is not a popular sentiment now.

On becoming the favorite to win the MVP award: "It would mean a lot. MVP in this league, you can't downgrade that. It doesn't matter who you are or how many you've won, you can't downgrade MVP. Of course the ultimate prize is to win the championship. But as far as of regular season accolades that's right up there at the top. It would be cool. But that's out of my control. Only thing I can control is how I play the game and everything else after that will fall in line."

On his toughest match-ups in the league: "Kobe and Carmelo. They just have an array of moves that can get me off balance. They're strong on defense as well, but Kobe is just the ultimate one-on-one player. It would be fun playing against him but it would be tough to beat him."

Whoa there! No Lebron James? Is the omission his way of challenging the King? We know that James is keen on these things, and the media will let him know. The All-Star Game just got a little more exciting!