Kevin Durant is about to begin his 20th NBA season, and the future Hall of Famer says that wasn’t always the expectation when he first got to the league.
During media availability, Durant said his original target was much simpler than the career arc he’s built over nearly two decades.
“I was just hoping that I could get up to 10 years. You just hear the statistics of how short your life is as an NBA player.
I took heed to all of that information early and I just wanted to approach every day like it was my last, and hopefully I could get 10 years. That was really my goal.
After 10 years, I just want to keep it going as long as I can.”
Durant’s path has long since blown past that early benchmark. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft is still producing at an elite level at 38, coming off a season in which he averaged 26.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists across 78 games. That performance earned him All-NBA Second Team honors.
He remains one of the standard-bearers for aging superstars, alongside LeBron James and Stephen Curry, continuing to show that top-end production can last well beyond the usual window.
On Tuesday, Durant was asked about how long he expected to play when he entered the league, and the answer reflected a player who never took longevity for granted. Nearly 20 years later, he’s still here, and now he’s expected to be the Houston Rockets’ best player heading into the 2026-2027 season.
Other players from that 2007 draft class, including Al Horford and Mike Conley, are now in supporting roles. Durant, meanwhile, is still carrying a franchise at the top of the roster.
There has been criticism over his team success since leaving the Golden State Warriors in 2019, but that conversation has to account for the circumstances around his stops with the Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns. Durant’s teammates played a role in how those teams ultimately fared as well.
Houston offers a different picture. The Rockets enter the season with plenty of optimism, thanks in part to Alperen Sengun’s continued growth as one of the NBA’s top playmaking centers, Amen Thompson’s progress as a contributor, and Fred VanVleet’s return to the court.
There’s also a chance head coach Ime Udoka eases Durant’s workload a bit. Durant played 36.4 minutes per game, but he has not shown signs that he needs load management. Even so, Udoka may choose caution over risk over the course of an 82-game season.
If everything breaks right, Durant still has the kind of game that can help push Houston back to the Western Conference Finals. For the Rockets, starting fresh with Durant at the center of it all brings one more obvious benefit: his durability has become part of the value.
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