Kevin Durant has been fighting people on social media and fighting for credit for so long that it has sometimes overshadowed his immense basketball skills. He’s arguably the finest pure scorer the NBA has ever seen. He’s a two-time NBA champion. He’s an MVP and a slam dunk future Hall of Famer the moment he calls it quits.
Durant has joined three different teams over the past four seasons. His nomadic journey has seen him bounce from a pair of failed superteams in the Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns. His latest stop is different. The 37-year-old could be the missing piece that lifts the Houston Rockets to the NBA Finals. We’ll get an early glimpse of what the Rockets might be on Tuesday’s season-opener when they visit the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
Houston was one of the league’s biggest surprises last season, finishing with the second-best record (52-30) in the Western Conference. But the No. 2 seed clearly wasn’t ready for primetime. The Rockets lost in the first round to the Golden State Warriors. To be fair, the Warriors weren’t a typical No. 7 seed, having added Jimmy Butler midseason. These Rockets are hoping that Durant can provide a similar boost.
Even at the age of 37, Houston is banking on Durant to lift the franchise for this season and beyond. The two sides recently agreed to a two-year, $90 million extension.
Everyone is chasing Oklahoma City. The Thunder have the title, reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is in his prime, and the team is the odds-on favorite to repeat. But the Rockets have closed the gap by trading for Durant in the offseason. They already had a promising young roster but lacked a go-to threat to close out games. Durant gives them that and more. He’s a 27.2 points-per-game scorer over his 17-year career. Last season, the Rockets were 12th in offensive rating and could be substantially better now. Durant commands double teams, which should free up youngsters Amen Thompson and Alperen Şengün. If Reed Sheppard comes online after a disappointing rookie season, he could also benefit from wide-open shot opportunities.
The big question for Durant is health. Since rupturing his right Achilles tendon in the 2019 NBA Finals while with the Warriors, he has only played over 62 games once (75 in the 2023-24 season). In today’s load management world, the goal will be to get him ready for the playoffs. Still, considering he’s playing with new teammates, Durant will need to build chemistry with them.
You know who he is. And he’s here. pic.twitter.com/OFUkTq9DI7
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) September 25, 2025
If Durant can lead the Rockets to the NBA Finals for the first time in 1995, he’ll get the credit he didn’t receive when he joined Golden State. The Warriors won a championship before he got there and won another after he left. It’s not fair. Durant was the NBA Finals MVP in back-to-back seasons for Golden State. But that’s the way it is.
For the first time in a long time, Durant seems grateful to be a part of what Rockets general manager Rafael Stone, coach Ime Udoka, and owner Tilman Fertitta are building.
“To walk in here every day, you see the attention to detail from everybody — not just the leadership of Rafael and Ime and Tilman but everybody who works in here — the level of detail that it takes to become a successful team and franchise,” Durant said, according to the Houston Chronicle. “So happy I’m a part of that. I want to keep working to build and show my worth here.”