BELLEVUE, Wash. — Kevin Durant was so excited to learn he had just won the NBA Rookie of the Year award, he went back to sleep.

That's what seven months and 82 games — more than double the amount the lanky 19-year-old had played in any previous season — can do to a teenager.

Fatigue that wasn't apparent while Durant soared in Seattle this season finally caught up to the SuperSonics' star this week. Then his mother, Wanda Pratt, woke him up with the news that he had just joined mentor LeBron James plus Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Oscar Robertson and Wilt Chamberlain in a legendary legacy of rookie award winners.

"I was asleep. It was a long season," Durant said yesterday with a smile about Seattle's 20-62 disaster, the worst season in team history. "My mom woke me up when she got the call. She screamed. I was happy.

"Then I went back to sleep."

Durant was the national college player of the year at Texas and the No. 2 overall draft pick last year.

Despite being the only man opposing teams schemed to stop, the 6-foot-9 Durant averaged 20.3 points, 7.7 more than any other rookie.

Atlanta's Al Horford finished second and Houston's Luis Scola was third.

Also yesterday, Seattle general manager Sam Presti announced that P.J. Carlesimo will return to coach the SuperSonics next season, ending speculation he might be fired.