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A Basketball Nomad: Kevin Durant is back home in Austin

by:RT Young•02/20/25
Kevin Durant
(Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

If you weigh both college and pro careers, Kevin Durant might be the most famous Longhorn athlete of all time. That sentence was written with deep apologies to Earl Campbell and Roger Clemens, and with a raised eyebrow toward Arch Manning as to what the future could hold. It’s Durant’s belt to raise in the air for now, maybe forever. His season in Austin was one of the greatest in college basketball history, and the Naismith Award and his retired jersey in the rafters of the departed Erwin Center, now Moody Center, reflect the impact he had on the 40 Acres.

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In spending the week in Austin, it’s obvious Durant feels comfortable here. He said as much, being back in Texas has flooded him with fond memories. But despite his otherworldly success in the pros, his NBA journey has been filled with wandering. Considering he’s a former MVP, a two-time Finals MVP, and one of the 15 best players in NBA history, there’s one thing professional basketball has never given the mercurial superstar: a home.

At yesterday’s media availability, ahead of his Phoenix Suns facing the San Antonio Spurs at the Moody Center, it was obvious that this place where he spent just one year nearly 18 years ago might be the closest thing he has to a city he calls home and a fanbase that feels the same. 

“I’ve never forgotten those times I had here. I lean on my former teammates and my Texas family when I go through a lot of stuff. This was a vital time in my life, an important time in my life, and I still hold onto it dearly,” Durant reflected.

In a sports media landscape where almost every athlete enters college already media-trained, Durant wears his emotions on his sleeve. Last night at a live podcast taping at the Paramount Theater in Austin, Bill Simmons called him “the most genuine superstar we have.” Nothing Durant does feels premeditated. It’s all off the cuff. He’s authentic to a fault. He argues with basketball bloggers, he tweets from burner accounts, he’s undoubtedly in search of something, and he doesn’t shy away from that fact.

For a generational player, he’s been a wandering nomad in the NBA. It’s the opposite of his former teammate, Stephen Curry, who is inextricably linked to one team in the Golden State Warriors. From Seattle to OKC to Golden State to Brooklyn to Phoenix. I’m not sure what fanbase or team really claims KD or vice versa. But maybe that doesn’t matter. KD claims Texas, and the Longhorns claim him back.

As the Spurs continue their annual two-game stint in Austin in an attempt to grow their Central Texas fanbase, it’s funny that the NBA scheduled Durant’s Suns for one of the games at the Moody Center. For a long time, it frustrated me that Austin rarely embraced the Spurs despite their five championships in 15 years. It’s because aside from the Longhorns, Austin is agnostic in terms of fandom.

Many Longhorn faithful don’t have a pro basketball team. They just have KD. He’s planetary. And because of his gravity, the Texas fanbase has orbited around him for the past 18 years.

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So KD might not have a professional fanbase he’s forever linked to, nor Austin, an NBA team that warrants their undying loyalty. But they have one another.

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