Dein erstes Forum » r in the bullpen. With Bourn being a left-handed ce

OKLAHOMA CITY -- In accepting his first MVP award, Oklahoma Citys Kevin Durant made a point of sharing the honour with those who made it possible. Marcus Allen Jersey . In a soul-baring speech that lasted more than 25 minutes, Durant fought back tears several times while thanking each of his teammates, the coaches, support staff and team executives, and finally his family. The emotional outpouring culminated with a tribute to his mother, Wanda Pratt, and the sacrifices she made, the inspiration she provided while raising Durant and his brother in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. "You made us believe," Durant said to Pratt, who was at the ceremony in Edmond, Oklahoma. "Kept us off the street. Put clothes on our backs, food on the table. When you didnt eat, you made sure we ate. You sacrificed for us. Youre the real MVP." Durant explained that Pratt was a single mother with two boys, and though times were tough while growing up, Pratt always thought something better was ahead. Durant said to appreciate moments like these, he often looks back to gain perspective. "One of the best memories I had is when we moved into our first apartment," he said as tears streamed down Pratts face. "No bed, no furniture, and we just all sat in the living room and hugged each other, cause thats when we all thought we made it." Hes really made it now. The young man who said he was told he "wasnt supposed to be here" won the NBAs top individual honour Tuesday, receiving 119 first-place votes. Miamis LeBron James, who had won the last two MVP awards and four of the previous five, finished second with six first-place votes, and Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers was third. Durant, 25, called it "surreal" and at one point, as he thanked his teammates, he stopped and said, "I dont know why Im crying so much." "Everything in my life, I had to take it," Durant said. "Theyre not going to give it to you out of sympathy. I wouldnt 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." During a speech in which Durant revealed a humility and vulnerability rarely displayed by a professional athlete, he also drew some laughs. "I could walk in and have a terrible day and I could see Hasheem (Thabeet) smiling at me, at 7-foot-3 with small pants on," he said. "That would change my day." Durant mentioned qualities about each teammate, showing respect for the veterans who challenge him and the rookies who inspire him to do things the right way because they look up to him. "I go home and I think about that stuff, man," he said. "When youve got people behind you, you can do whatever." Durant won his fourth scoring crown in five years by averaging 32 points. The 6-foot-9 forward helped the Thunder go 59-23, second-best in the league, despite playing much of the season without three-time All-Star Russell Westbrook because of a nagging knee injury. "Hes basically put himself in front of everybody else in the league and shown that hes the best player in the world," Westbrook said at the end of the regular season. James agreed, saying Monday: "Much respect to him and he deserves it. He had a big-time MVP season." Durants run of 41 consecutive games this season with at least 25 points was the third-longest streak in NBA history. "It was a two-man race, and then toward the end, it was kind of a no-brainer," Griffin said. James averaged 27.1 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.3 assists while shooting nearly 57 per cent from the field. Griffin averaged 24.1 points and 10.1 rebounds. Durant scored at least 40 points 14 times. He also averaged 7.4 rebounds and a career-high 5.5 assists while shooting 50 per cent from the field. While Westbrook was out after his most recent knee surgery, Durant averaged 35 points and 6.3 assists as the Thunder went 20-7 and remained among the leagues elite. Teammates and opponents say Durant became a more complete player this season. They praised him for improving his court vision, consistently making the extra pass and moving more efficiently without the ball. "I think we take it for granted," teammate Nick Collison said. "To be able to stay on for long periods of time -- have to cut hard, catch the ball in the right spot and defend on the other end -- is tough to do. To be able to show that shows that he has an edge to him. He doesnt take a night off." Though Durants consistency stood out this season, he had several exceptional games. He scored 48 points on Jan. 4 at Minnesota, then scored 48 again two games later at Utah. He scored a career-high 54 points in a home win against Golden State on Jan. 17 and two games later scored 46 at home in a victory against Portland. Two games after that, he had a triple-double -- 32 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists -- in a win at Philadelphia, and he followed that with 41 points in a victory over Atlanta. He scored 51 points at Toronto on March 21 in a staggering 53 minutes and hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 1.7 seconds left in double overtime. He capped it off in the season finale by scoring 21 of his 42 points in the fourth quarter against Detroit and winning the game with a dunk with 16.5 seconds left. The Thunder overcame a 10-point deficit in the quarter to clinch the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. "I put in so much work and so many people helped me," he said. "I feel like we all won it. Our equipment guy gave me a hug today and said, This is my first MVP, and I thought about that. And I said, Yeah, this is our first MVP. I couldnt have done it without the teammates, without the trainer. Everybody. We all just did this together." Trent Green Jersey .C. -- Kurt Busch put his chances at "70 per cent" at running the Indianapolis 500 this year because of recent developments that have pushed a potential program along. Mike Garrett Jersey . In mens doubles, Vancouvers Vasek Pospisil and American Jack Sock reached the quarter-finals with a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3), 6-4 win over Croatian Mate Pavic and Andre Sa of Brazil. http://www.customchiefsjersey.com/custom-tyrann-mathieu-jersey-large-1716n.html . The American secured his first back-to-back ATP match wins since June to leave Tsonga relying on his performance at next weeks Paris Masters to clinch one of the final three places for the season-ending event in London. Tsonga would have moved up one spot to No. 6 with a win over Querrey at the City of Arts and Sciences, but his serve deserted him in the second set as the 116th-ranked American broke twice to reach the quarter-finals.DETROIT -- Michael Bourn was ready to return to the majors. Nasty weather delayed his plans. Bourn, who missed Clevelands first 13 games with a strained left hamstring, was activated from the disabled list on Tuesday before the Indians series opener with the Tigers was postponed by cold weather. Bourn had expected to make his season debut only to have it pushed back by temperatures in the low 30s and snow sitting on the outfield grass in Comerica Park. "He was ready to go," Indians manager Terry Francona said of his speedy centre fielder. "He wanted to play, but you cant control the weather." Its the third postponement for the Indians, who already have been forced to play two doubleheaders this season because of rainouts. No makeup date was announced, but Francona believes the AL Central teams, who are scheduled to play 19 times, are eyeing a date in July. The Indians return to Detroit for a three-game series from July 18-20 and Sept. 12-14. Francona said right-hander Zach McAllisters start will be pushed back to Wednesday. Danny Salazar will start Thursday, followed by Justin Masterson, Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco at home against the Toronto Blue Jays. Bourn strained his hamstring while running the bases on March 16 during training camp in Arizona. Because he had surgery on the hamstrinng soon after last season ended, the Indians were cautious about bringing him back. Tony Gonzalez Jersey. Bourn had been eligible to be activated two weeks ago, but the Indians had him play in five minor league games to make sure he was 100 per cent. Francona said Bourn likely will play in consecutive games but may not appear in "three, four of five in a row" for a while. The chilly weather doesnt help, but Francona said it probably wouldnt have kept Bourn out against the Tigers. "I dont think anyone feels good in the cold weather," Francona said. "But hes healthy." To make room for Bourn, the Indians optioned outfielder Nyjer Morgan to Triple-A Columbus. Morgan, who signed a minor league deal with Cleveland in January, did a nice job filling in for Bourn. He batted .348 (8 of 23), scored four runs and had four RBIs in nine games. Francona said the team decided to send down Morgan to keep an extra reliever in the bullpen. "It wasnt really a tough decision," Francona said. "It was difficult in the fact that he (Morgan) had done so well. I dont think anybody thought he deserved to go to Triple-A, but when you look at the way our team is constituted, we needed to stay with the extra pitcher in the bullpen. With Bourn being a left-handed centre fielder, its hard to keep both of them." ' ' '