Kevin Durant was labeled as “frustrated” when ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Suns' frustrations about guard Bradley Beal being out with an ankle injury and the team's role players in the midst of a struggle.

Since the calendar year turned, Durant has been the best player in the world arguably. Why isn't that being shared?

Durant, who is labeled as moody and insecure, he told me, will only say what he does on a daily basis.

“My purpose of being a human being is to be the greatest basketball player I can be,” the Suns' star said. Durant's quote is emblematic of his poise and consistency to his job, but that is not being shared.

Durant, who is one of the 10 best players to ever put on a basketball uniform to many, is performing like an MVP candidate. He is No. 8 on the NBA's MVP ladder, which says it reflects the opinion of writer Michael C. Wright.

Durant is an MVP frontrunner, and you'd be hard-pressed to tell me otherwise.

West Player of the Week

Durant was recently named the NBA's Western Conference Player of the Week. He shot 60 percent from the field and capped off the week with a 40-point game in the Suns' wild 123-122 comeback win over the Sacramento Kings.

One night later, Durant finished with his best game in a Suns uniform. He had 43 points, overcoming an 0-of-6 start from three and hitting a double-clutch game winner.

“He made a ridiculous shot,” said coach Frank Vogel.

Durant's discussion nationally will not change to a lot of the narrative fit to his listed 6-foot-10 frame, one that cannot be replaceable at all if he does not win a title. Durant is maybe the best player of all time, he says, but his Golden State Warriors tenure has an asterisk to many onlookers.

Controversy from Golden State

The crowd, although upset, fails to hold the same standard for Durant when he has carried the Suns, the NBA's winningest team in the last three years since the 2020 bubble, when he and his team are following his leadership.

“He’s a great leader,” tenured forward Yuta Watanabe, who teamed up with Durant in 2022-23 in Brooklyn, said. “I don’t know why people question him, stuff like that.

“Every time his teammates make a play, he’s so hyped. Sometimes, he slaps hands so hard. I remember I was making shots and he was so hyped up and we had a high-five, that was so hard my left arm went numb after that for like an hour. That’s the kind of who he is. He’s always happy for his teammates. A guy like Kevin Durant showing that type of support, always motivates us. He’s a great leader, great person, great teammate to have.”

Durant for some reason is 35 years old and made to be the villain of the NBA, given he went to the Golden State Warriors and won back-to-back championships (2017 and 2018). Durant was named Finals MVP each of those years.

If that is the worst thing Durant has done, then consider him ignorant, moody and insecure.

On the court, his game and character speaks for itself.

Bridges, Johnson idolatry

For some reason, Durant is somewhat slow to be embraced by a Phoenix community that is yet to win. The Suns are the best franchise in the NBA by win percentage (.536) to not be (see link for Hornets' Miles Bridges latest) champions.

Phoenix went to the 2021 NBA Finals and had a franchise-best 64 wins in the 2021-22 season. But the Suns did not win the title, so they traded cornerstone starters/faces Mikal Bridges, who is some a younger version of Durant and a better option because of his durability, and Cam Johnson to acquire him.

Durant is playing like the best player in the world, but cheers for Johnson and Bridges during their return to Phoenix in December has at times been supportive more than cheers for Durant, guard Bradley Beal and coach Frank Vogel, who are championship-level players.

Phoenix's crowd, which has been loud and noted by national media outlet ESPN, is now deafening. When things are going well…

Devin Booker and Grayson Allen each implored the Suns crowd to get louder.

Durant has not changed. The Suns' forward has been the healthiest of the “Big 3,” which has been on the floor for just 12 games, and has had to adjust to role players elevating their normal contributions. With that, Phoenix is just five games behind the Minnesota Timberwolves for the No. 1 seed.

Beal and Booker

“Special,” says Booker, who is honored by Suns fans as the franchise's player.

Durant is looked at as a player who does not deserve appreciation or love from fans or the history of the game. Ironically, he will be remembered as one of the players who poured all of his love into the sport.

Durant this season is looking like a player who could contend for the NBA's Most Valuable Player award. But the league's MVP ladder had Durant outside the top-10, which is all kind of words that should not be safe at work.

Durant is now No. 8. That is not good enough.

The MVP award is the most prestigious honor a basketball player can get. The winner will set the standard of how to achieve, not only in basketball but as a teammate.

76ers center Joel Embiid is spectacular. Durant himself said Embiid may be the best scorer ever.

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic may be the greatest offensive center ever.

But you'd be hard-pressed to find a basketball player who sets the tone on a daily basis with his work ethic, which former Golden State Warriors teammate Andre Iguodala said is one of the most beautiful things to see.

His teammates have noted the impact he's had.

“He's always unselfish,” Beal said. “Sometimes we want him to be a little bit more aggressive at times, but that's just his nature.”

Durant should be the MVP. Embiid is averaging 36 points which is the most since Wilt Chamberlain in 1963-64.

But the 7-footer is yet to accomplish anything like Durant has off the floor.

Durant's Boardroom company is extremely insightful. Durant, who is known as a marijuana smoker, is high at times but describes his work ethic and shares it in a manner that an audience can see his true self.

Embiid, who is likable, tends to get a more positive rapport from the national media. Durant, who went to the Warriors and dominated LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, does not.

ESPN has not spoken extensively about the Suns or Durant, who is a big reason why Phoenix went on a seven-game winning streak and is dominating the NBA.

If Durant wins MVP — which is very unlikely — the narrative around him will still stay the same.

The hell with that. There's two sides to the coin.

Durant should be the MVP, again.