Kevin Durant is not walking into Saturday’s meeting with the Oklahoma City Thunder carrying old grudges.
The Houston Rockets are set to host the Thunder at Toyota Center, and for Durant, the game lands differently than most. He spent his early prime in Oklahoma City as the franchise’s headliner, the player fans believed would define everything that came next. More than a decade later, he’s looking back on that stretch with appreciation rather than bitterness.
Speaking to ESPN, Durant said the Thunder’s rise felt organic because nobody was forcing a title chase onto a group that was still growing up together.
“It was fun because it was unexpected. There was no pressure on us to go win.
The pressure was on each one of us individually to get better as players, to become more and more professional. And once we became more and more professional and better individually as players, we always liked playing with each other,” said Durant, via ESPN.
“So, once we got on the floor, that was even easier. So once we all got comfortable with the game of basketball, we took off - and I think our whole organization took off.
Sam Presti was a young GM at the time … so we were all growing at the same time. And we were experiencing things pretty quickly.”
He added that the organization’s focus gave that group a real foundation.
“So we were hitting these marks early on, and things happened pretty fast for us. And that’s from Sam setting the culture where we care strictly about the game and getting better, and everybody - the coaching staff and the executives - cared about putting us in a good position to just focus on the game of basketball.”
Durant was 23 when he carried Oklahoma City to the Finals in 2012. Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Serge Ibaka were right there with him, and the Thunder had only one real barrier standing in their way: LeBron James. They fell short of the title, but Durant still sees that period as meaningful because of the relationships he built along the way.
That’s why the Thunder’s 2025 championship run, led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, didn’t leave him sour. He never won one in Oklahoma City, and he said he wishes that group had been the one to finish the job. Even so, he views the title as part of the same story his team started years ago.
“Most definitely. I mean, when we lost in 2012, we almost had like a small parade,” Durant added.
“So many people came and welcomed us back home and showed us so much love and congratulated us on a great season. I knew at that moment, if the city ever wins a championship, the amount of people that’s going to show up for this parade and the energy they’re going to have for this parade is going to be insane.”
“I wish our [Thunder] team could have been the one to do it because we were young and we showed we could. But I felt the sense of pride of being an alumni of the Thunder, seeing this team win as well, because I felt that’s the evolution of what we did.
I felt like Sam Presti hit his final form and figured out the best way for him to be. And Shai and Jalen Williams, I just felt like they all hit that mark, and we kind of laid the foundation on what it meant to be successful young players in this league, and they built upon that.”
The split between Durant and Oklahoma City once carried real tension, but that part of the story has cooled off. Both sides have clearly moved forward, and the Thunder have rebuilt into one of the league’s most respected teams. Durant, meanwhile, is helping Houston push upward in the West.
He enters this matchup producing at his usual level, averaging 22.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 0.4 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting 50.3% from the field. With Durant on one side and the Thunder on the other, Saturday’s game has the makings of a reunion worth watching.
In Other News...
Shais New Thunder Burden Could Be Costing OKC Its Biggest Edge
Early in the 2026-27 season, the Thunder are already juggling a thinner rotation than they hoped for, with Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace out long term and the burden spreading across the roster. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has had to absorb more on both ends, and the extra defensive load is showing up in the way Oklahoma City is trying to survive these stretches without losing the edge that has made it so hard to beat.
The concern is that the added responsibility may be trimming into the part of his game that usually carries the Thunder most. Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 26.0 points per game, and Oklahoma City is still waiting for Chet Holmgren to return and help restore some balance. Until then, the Thunder are counting on their star to keep producing at his usual level while doing more of the heavy lifting defensively, a combination that could determine how long they can stay in the race. [Read more 🡒]
Thunder Just Addressed A Growing Problem On The Wing
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For a team trying to keep its flexibility intact while navigating a rash of absences, the move is as much about roster management as it is about one players fit. Agbaji gives the Thunder another body on the wing and keeps the front office positioned to explore additional short-term help if the injury situation continues to demand it. [Read more 🡒]
Thunder Suddenly Face A Chet Holmgren Problem They Can't Ignore
The Thunders injury picture got a lot more complicated this week, and Chet Holmgren is now at the center of it. Oklahoma City announced that Holmgren underwent a biological treatment for a small patellar tendon tear in his right knee, adding another significant absence to a roster that is already dealing with injuries and surgeries for Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace, along with other players currently sidelined.
For a team built on depth, flexibility and constant lineup churn, the timing is especially awkward. Oklahoma City plans to sign Ochai Agbaji to fill its 15th roster spot, and the front office may also need to explore a hardship exception if the injury list keeps growing. The Thunder have managed roster turbulence before, but this stretch is forcing them to navigate more than just a short-term patch job. [Read more 🡒]