Heading into his 19th season, Kevin Durant is still operating in rare air. Last season, he put up 26 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists across 78 games, good enough to land an All-Star nod and an All-NBA Second Team spot.
Durant’s résumé already includes two NBA championships and one MVP award, but he made clear where he stands on the individual-versus-team debate during an appearance on the Unguarded podcast last December. “MVP.
There’s one a year… rings are incredible. It's a great team accomplishment, but come on, everybody wants to be MVP.”
ESPN’s panel of NBA experts didn’t include Durant among its top five MVP picks for the 2026-2027 season. The group’s projected leaders were Victor Wembanyama, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Still, Durant isn’t completely out of the conversation. There’s a path for the 16-time All-Star to outperform expectations in 2027, and it runs through the same things that have kept him in the league’s upper tier for years: efficient scoring, staying on the floor, and a little help from circumstances beyond his control.
The broader MVP picture has shifted around him. Jokic, Gilgeous-Alexander, Doncic and Antetokounmpo have owned the award race in recent years, while Wembanyama’s rise has pushed another generation to the front. That leaves Durant and other stars from the 2010s as outsiders in the current pecking order, even if Durant still looks capable of finishing in the top 10.
He was ninth in the final edition of last season’s NBA MVP Ladder, which reflects his status as a high-level player even if voters weren’t especially enthusiastic about his candidacy.
The 65-game minimum rule could also matter. Durant played nearly every regular-season game, but Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Anthony Edwards and Joel Embiid were all ruled ineligible for MVP honors under that standard.
For Houston, the bigger target is simpler: another 50-plus-win season and a real playoff push. Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson are still growing into All-Star-caliber pieces, and that should raise the bar for the Rockets in 2027. But if the first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers taught anything, it’s that postseason outcomes can swing game to game based on the injury report.
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Kevin Durant's Latest Off-Court Move Shows Why Houston Should Pay Attention
Kevin Durant has a way of making money moves that land far beyond the basketball court, and his latest off-court venture is another reminder. Through Thirty Five Ventures, Durant and Rich Kleiman reportedly put a combined $250,000 into Hugging Face during its seed and Series A rounds, backing the artificial intelligence company long before it became a big name in the conversation.
Now, with Nvidia reportedly agreeing to acquire Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, the potential payoff is drawing attention around the NBA again. If the deal closes, that early stake could be worth more than $60 million, though neither Nvidia nor Hugging Face has officially confirmed the acquisition, leaving the final outcome unresolved for the moment. [Read more 🡒]
Kevin Durants Latest Off Court Payday Says A Lot About Life In Houston
Kevin Durants move to Houston has already been one of the NBAs biggest storylines, but the newest wrinkle around him has nothing to do with basketball. A reported windfall from his investment in Hugging Face has pushed his off-court earnings into a different stratosphere, with the payoff landing at a level that even tops what he is scheduled to make from the Rockets in the 2026-27 season. For a team built around Durants presence, it is another reminder that his reach extends well beyond what he does on the floor.
Durant has talked recently about the complications that come with money, especially the strain it can put on relationships and the pressure to navigate who and what gets his attention. That kind of backdrop matters in Houston, where his on-court role is the main attraction, but his off-court life keeps revealing how unusual his place in the sport really is. The Rockets will be watching his game most closely, yet the latest chapter in his business life suggests there is still plenty more to learn about how he balances it all. [Read more 🡒]
Rockets Contender Push Could Hinge On One Massive Guard Gamble
Houstons season was shaped in part by the injuries that sidelined Steven Adams and Fred VanVleet, leaving the team short on both production and the kind of steady leadership that matters once the schedule gets rough. With the Rockets trying to turn a promising roster into a real contender, that absence has only sharpened the conversation about whether they need a bigger swing to raise their ceiling.
One name that keeps coming up is Kyrie Irving, whose presence would immediately change the teams offensive profile and reunite him with Kevin Durant. It is the sort of move that would signal Houston is ready to chase a championship window now, even if it means parting with trusted veterans to do it. [Read more 🡒]