Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant has said that the players should be involved in picking the NBA's annual MVP.

A 124-member panel of sports writers and broadcasters vote for the award, while a further vote is cast following a fan poll on the league's official website.

In his press conference ahead of this weekend's All-Star game, the current MVP told reporters: "I think [the] media gets too much power to vote on stuff like that. Quite frankly I don't think you really know a lot about as much we know about it.

"So we play against these guys every single night, we battle against these guys, we know what they say on the court, we know how they handle their teammates, we know how they approach the game, and our votes should count.

"Our opinions should count. I don't think you guys know as much we do, and I don't see why you have more power than we do. You guys vote on the MVP and I think MVP is a lot about narratives and what may happen during that time. There's a lot of guys that play extremely well for years and years and just starting to get MVP consideration."

Durant averaged 32 points per game for the Thunder last season to win the award.