When Kevin Durant said he wanted to spend his career with OKC Thunder: "I would love to get my jersey retired here"

In March 2015, Kevin Durant gave NBA fans — especially interesting for those of the Oklahoma City Thunder — a rare glimpse into his mindset about the future.

With the 2016 free agency approaching, speculation ran wild over which jersey the scoring superstar would wear next. Yet Durant cut through the noise, telling the press his priority was clear: staying with the Thunder, not just for now, but for the rest of his basketball career.

One-team loyalty

The NBA has long seen few superstars spend their entire careers with a single team. In recent decades, names like Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki — all Hall of Famers — stand out.

Witnessing that kind of loyalty was “awesome ” for Durant. In fact, the then 26-year-old was so impressed that he was determined to follow suit.

“I’m one of those guys that would love to stick it out with one team my whole career,” he noted, per the Washington Post.

Reflecting on Bryant’s 20-year tenure exclusively with the Los Angeles Lakers, Durant called it “epic.”

If that wasn’t enough to signal his desire to stay with the Thunder — the franchise he joined in 2007 when it was still the Seattle SuperSonics — Durant’s next words left little doubt.

“You never know what the future holds sometimes and how teams may feel about you after a while,” the former second overall pick out of Texas said, “but I love it here, and I would love to get my jersey retired here.”

Durant, who is now with the Houston Rockets, even followed with another heartfelt declaration of loyalty.

“I love playing for Oklahoma City, man,” said the 2014 MVP. “There’s just a certain level of pride that I have when I play with that Oklahoma City on my chest. So that’s the only thing I’m focused on. Everybody knows that I represent where I come from that no matter where I play at, no matter what arena. But I’m just focused on playing with Oklahoma City. It feels like home now. That’s where I am.”

The cost of promises

In sports, every word a player speaks publicly carries weight. Even subtle nuances in interviews can come back to haunt them. Just look at the countless athletes who blasted a team, only to have those remarks brought back into the spotlight as they prepared to join that very side.

It’s awkward, to say the least, and the reverse is also true: heartfelt declarations of loyalty, like Durant’s to Oklahoma City, can leave a lasting impression — for better or worse.

Of course, showing loyalty can cement a player’s bond with a franchise and its fans. But there’s a delicate balance between genuine commitment and overexposure. Durant may have misjudged that line.

After all, as hindsight shows, about a year after his aforementioned remarks, the now 36-year-old departed the Thunder, leaving fans stunned and media buzzing.

The controversy wasn’t just that Durant left after declaring his love, but where he went.

Joining the Golden State Warriors — already loaded with All-Stars and a team Durant had struggled to beat with the Thunder — made his departure feel, to many, like a shortcut to a championship title.

Looking back, it’s tempting to think that had KD spent his entire career with OKC, he would have become one of those iconic one-team legends. On the other hand, he might never have won two NBA titles, which the Washington native eventually claimed with the Warriors.

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 24, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

When Kevin Durant said he wanted to spend his career with OKC Thunder: “I would love to get my jersey retired here”

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