Rockets’ Kevin Durant Reveals His Retirement Plans Ahead of NBA Season

This offseason, NBA superstar Kevin Durant was at the center of attention after being traded from the Phoenix Suns to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, and draft compensation.

Durant, who played college basketball for the Texas Longhorns, now gets to return to Texas over a decade later — and he revealed this week, ahead of the upcoming season, that he hopes to finish the remaining years of his career there while discussing his retirement plans.

Durant acknowledged he had said something similar when joining the Suns, but now, at 37 and in the final year of his contract — he’s set to make roughly $54.7 million in 2025-26 — there is optimism that the Rockets and Durant could work out an extension that allows him to play until he’s ready to retire.

“I’m looking to be here as long as I can, play my last years of my career,” Durant said, via Sports Illustrated. “That’s the intent. I know, I said that about Phoenix, too, but that’s the intent. I would love to do that. I mean, I’m 37 years old and I’m going on 19 years in the league. I want to be solidified in a spot and build with a team with a group of guys that’s going to be around for a while. So hopefully this is it.”

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Durant spent the last three seasons with the Suns, and while the team struggled to consistently win games, he remained highly effective, averaging 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.2 assists across 36.5 minutes per game.

Now, he joins a Rockets squad that finished atop the Western Conference in the regular season but fell in seven games to the Golden State Warriors in the first round of last year’s playoffs.

Durant joins a talented roster of young players, led by coach Ime Udoka, who has guided two different organizations to the postseason in just a few years.

The Rockets will be featured on Opening Night, Oct. 21, taking on the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder — the same franchise where Durant began his NBA career after being drafted by the Seattle Supersonics, before the team relocated to Oklahoma City.

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