Kevin Durant's pursuit of perfection led him back to Texas

HOUSTON -- IT'S LATE on a muggy October night, and Kevin Durant refuses to travel to grips with world portion heading for the exit astatine the Toyota Center connected the heels of his Rockets preseason debut, a 140-127 triumph implicit the Utah Jazz.

Entering his 19th season, Durant has won MVP, 2 NBA championships and 2 Finals MVP awards to spell with 4 Olympic golden medals and 15 trips to the NBA All-Star Game. Yet astatine this signifier of his career, Durant doggedly pursues a extremity he'll ne'er achieve.

Perfection.

"What you mean I ne'er will?" Durant asks, fractional smiling.

Since Durant won his 2nd ringing with the Golden State Warriors successful 2018, helium has had stints with the Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns that came to unceremonious exits. Six seasons later, Durant finds himself successful what mightiness beryllium his champion -- and last -- accidental astatine winning a 3rd ring.

Fifty days aft the Rockets walked disconnected their location level dejected successful the aftermath of a Game 7 nonaccomplishment to the Warriors successful the archetypal circular of the 2024-25 playoffs, quality broke that Houston and the Suns had agreed to a commercialized successful a woody involving 7 teams that would nonstop Durant to the Rockets for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the No. 10 prime successful the draught and 5 second-round picks.

The determination instantly transformed Houston from a squad connected the emergence -- it was coming disconnected its archetypal 50-win play since 2018-19 and has 10 players connected the roster property 28 oregon younger -- to a contender with Durant powering the violative engine. The seasoned signed to a two-year, $90 cardinal extension connected Sunday that includes a subordinate enactment for 2027-28.

"Kevin has ever been a problem," Rockets manager Ime Udoka told ESPN. "He elevates our full group."

Durant, for his part, sees Houston arsenic his champion accidental astatine capturing a 3rd ring. But much than that, helium likes that this unit "lets maine beryllium me."

"I won't consistently play cleanable games," Durant said. "But my leap changeable is beauteous solid. My handles are beauteous solid. It's conscionable a situation that I enjoy: perfecting something. Well, you'll ne'er beryllium perfect. But trying to get determination successful the tiny magnitude of clip that I've got near successful this game, wherefore not?"

General manager Rafael Stone sat successful his glass-walled bureau astatine the Memorial Hermann Houston Rockets grooming halfway overlooking his team's signifier and pondered whether the club's caller star, who was acceptable to marque his Rockets debut the pursuing night, would ever scope his elusive goal.

"You can't," Stone said. "But you should try. It's a truly bully acquisition for however to attack the crippled for our younger guys. He's precise funny successful the trade and precise uninterested, astatine this stage, successful the things that travel on with it.

"There are truthful galore things that travel with being a prima NBA player. At this stage, the 1 he's astir funny successful by orders of magnitude is perfecting the craft. We're beauteous committed to keeping the main happening the main thing. So, we privation him to beryllium the subordinate connected the tribunal that helium tin be. We're not going to inquire of him thing else."

Houston opened the preseason Oct. 6 against the Atlanta Hawks, and Durant watched from the seat successful a grey hoodie arsenic the Rockets captured a 122-113 win. An hr and 45 minutes earlier tipoff that night, Udoka announced Durant would instrumentality the nigh...