Kevin Durant showed up to Houston Rockets media day on Tuesday with a clear message – he’s not slowing down, and neither is the franchise.
Udoka keeps it honest
Head coach Ime Udoka didn’t waste time on spin. “I don’t think anybody met our expectations,” he said of last season, a 52-win campaign that ended in a first-round playoff exit – the second consecutive year the Rockets have gone home too early. Then he raised the stakes. “We’re not here to just make the first round. We want to make some real noise.”
That’s the kind of accountability statement that lands differently when you have Kevin Durant in the locker room. Durant enters his 20th NBA season with one priority: staying on the floor. Only one player logged more minutes than him league-wide last year. He’s not interested in scaling back.
“I’m better on the court. The team is better when I’m on the court,” Durant said. “If we handle business in the first three quarters or earlier, then maybe – that’s what I’m supposed to be training for, to play 48 minutes a night.”
A roster built to go deeper
Houston returns a more complete group. Amen Thompson signed a five-year, $208 million extension in early September, cementing his future alongside Durant. Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams are both healthy. The Rockets added Marcus Smart in free agency, a veteran defender who fits Udoka’s system exactly. Reed Sheppard and Tari Eason are expected to step up.
VanVleet, measured as always, addressed last year without dramatizing it. “Our group learned a lot last year and those experiences are always valuable moving forward even if in the moment they sucked,” he said. GM Rafael Stone offered further proof that Durant’s investment in Houston is genuine. “The one thing he wanted to make very clear to me coming out of last year was just how much he enjoyed it and how much he wanted to be here,” Stone told reporters, per ESPN.
The only question left
Durant turns 38 in September. Two first-round exits have tightened the pressure on every member of this roster. Houston has the wins, the depth, the star power. What they don’t yet have is a second-round appearance to show for it.
One Rockets player reportedly told NBA.com: “This team is scary.” The next two months will determine whether the rest of the Western Conference agrees.
