The 2025/26 season will be Kevin Durant’s 19th campaign in the NBA. Having been drafted as the second overall pick in the 2007 draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, Durant spent the first nine years of his career with the franchise. Soon after drafting Durant, he became the Oklahoma City Thunder. The forward spent nine years with the franchise, guiding them to an NBA Finals appearance in 2012 and being named the league’s Most Valuable Player in 2014.
In 2016, as a free agent, Durant controversially signed for the Golden State Warriors, who had just enjoyed a 73-win season. Durant won two NBA titles with Steve Kerr’s side, though many question whether they did much to impact the perception of Durant, given that he won as part of an already-amazing team.
Since leaving Golden State in 2019, after suffering an ACL injury, Durant has played for both the Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns, though guided neither to the Larry O’Brien trophy. Before game seven of the 2025 NBA Finals, it was announced that Durant is to be traded to the Houston Rockets as he looks to win what would be his third career title.
Many talk about Durant and the legacy he will leave behind, but Durant is objectively one of the best NBA players in history. The forward has offered many opinions on basketball throughout his career, such as when, in 2024 via Boardroom, Durant revealed which players would make his ideal starting five.
PG - Luka Doncic
A mercurial playmaker
Luka Doncic pointing
First named to Durant’s team was Luka Doncic, whose trade to the Lakers from Dallas is one of the most controversial deals ever. The Slovenian was drafted in 2018, having already spent three years playing professional basketball with Real Madrid. Doncic showed immediate comfort in the NBA and by his second year, had been named an All-Star.
Doncic’s height and frame means he can cover multiple positions, but his aptitude for scoring and sensational passing range mean that he is best suited at the point. The 2025/26 season will be Doncic’s first full campaign with the Lakers and with LeBron James as a teammate, Doncic could perhaps win his first NBA title.
Luka Doncic Career Stats
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SG - Klay Thompson
The epitome of a sharpshooter
klay-thompson-warriors
A Dallas Maverick since 2024, Klay Thompson’s career has stagnated somewhat since winning his fourth NBA title in 2022, having missed well over two years before that due to injury. Thompson, before being traded to Dallas, had spent his entire career with Golden State, where he was part of the franchise’s most dominant era.
Alongside Steph Curry, Thompson was part of the famous “Splash Brothers” duo, famed for their lethal three-point shooting. Few players in league history have been as deadly from behind the arc as Thompson. In 2018, against the Chicago Bulls, Thompson set an NBA record for the most threes in a game with 14.
Klay Thompson Career Stats
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SF - Kevin Durant
A scorer from anywhere on the court
20 highest-paid athletes in 2025 (20-11)
Unsurprisingly, Durant named himself to his perfect starting five. Across his career, Durant has showcased an ability to score from behind the arc, from mid-range or in the paint, due to his near-seven-foot frame and phenomenal shooting capabilities. In the latest season, Durant became just the eighth player in league history to score more than 30,000 career points.
It remains to be seen whether Durant will win another trophy before eventually calling time on his career. Such is his playstyle, however, that the forward feasibly has multiple years in the NBA remaining, given that Durant’s deadly scoring is not too reliant on his physicality, though that has certainly helped him over the years.
Kevin Durant Career Stats
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PF - LeBron James
The NBA’s all-time top scorer
LeBron James
Only Michael Jordan can be held in the same bracket as LeBron James, who, by the end of the 2025/26 season, will have spent a staggering 23 years in the NBA. Drafted straight from high school by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003, James had an immediate impact in the league and only improved as the years went on.
A four-time champion and four-time MVP, James played for the Miami Heat between 2010 and 2014, where he won his first two NBA titles, before returning to Cleveland and winning a championship with the team from his home state. An LA Laker since 2018, James has slowed as a player by only a fraction. At 40 years old, the forward’s statistics are still better than most others in the NBA.
LeBron James Career Stats
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C - Joel Embiid
An MVP-calibre big man
Joel Embiid
Finally in Durant’s perfect starting five included Joel Embiid. “The Process” took his name from the era in which he was drafted as the Philadelphia 76ers put their hopes on the future by drafting young talents with potential. The franchise struggled with this idea, but in Embiid, it found a would-be superstar.
Embiid has struggled for consistent fitness throughout his career, which spans 11 years at the time of writing. When healthy, however, the Cameroonian-born big man is one of the most dominant in the league, as shown by his MVP win in 2023. For all of his achievements, however, Embiid is yet to lead the 76ers on a genuine push for a championship.
Joel Embiid Career Stats
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( All stats are fromBasketball Referenceand are correct as of 23/06/2025 )
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