Rockets fans, we finally have liftoff!
After a long and dramatic offseason for the Houston Rockets, the new-look team will finally take the court in regular-season action, facing off against the Oklahoma City Thunder in a game bursting at the seams with compelling narratives.
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The most obvious talking point, in this author’s opinion at least, is Kevin Durant’s debut as a Houston Rocket. Durant already has ties to the Lone Star State, thanks to a historic season at the University of Texas, where he became the first freshman ever to win the Naismith College Player of the Year Award.
Now entering his 19th NBA season, the future Hall of Famer will once again represent the State of Texas, joined by a loaded cast of teammates and coaches primed for a run at the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
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Tonight, KD will also be returning to an arena with a lot of personal history.
Kevin Durant and the Thunder
Durant was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics second overall in 2007, and the team would move to Oklahoma City and become the Thunder a year later.
Over the next eight seasons in OKC, he would become the most prized player in the franchise’s history. Alongside Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka, and, for a time, James Harden, KD led a high-powered unit that became an annual contender in a loaded Western Conference.
As the team’s offensive heartbeat, Durant led the charge against conference foes like Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers, Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich’s San Antonio Spurs, and Dirk Nowitzki’s Dallas Mavericks. He even starred in a 2012 film called Thunderstruck, a family-friendly sports comedy that essentially equated Durant’s basketball skills to magical powers.
Building a fanbase is hard enough for any relocated team — especially in a city with no other professional sports teams. But in the battle for viewership against media-market giants like Los Angeles and Miami, Durant made Oklahoma City must-see TV. Kids who might have worn purple and gold were now rocking electric blue and orange. A professional basketball team had landed in a college-football town — and suddenly, they were cool.
With “KD” Nike basketball shoes flying off the shelves and a viral, tear-jerking “You the real MVP” speech to his mother after being crowned the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 2014, Durant captured the hearts of basketball fans across America.
That all changed in the summer of 2016 — with a move that will forever live in infamy in the minds of Thunder fans.
Why KD Left OKC
Even with all of Durant’s achievements and accolades in OKC, arguably the most important trophy in basketball eluded his grasp. He desperately wanted to bring a championship to the Thunder franchise — it felt like the quintessential next step for the small-market fanbase that had wrapped its arms around him as he rose from athletic talent to cultural icon.
He came close in 2012, leading the Thunder all the way to the NBA Finals. But OKC, whose stars were still relatively young at the time, ran into the Miami Heat, led by superstars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. After the KD’s squad grinded out a win in Game 1, the Heat rattled off four straight victories to send the Thunder packing.
He came close again in 2016. The Thunder faced off against the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals — a team coming off the best regular season in NBA history with a record-breaking 73–9 record.
Durant led the Thunder to a 3–1 lead in the series, taking arguably the best basketball team ever assembled at the time to the brink of defeat. However, the Warriors would win the next three games and snatch the series, leaving a title-starved Durant more famished than ever before.
That Warriors team would go on to blow a 3–1 lead of its own in the NBA Finals to LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers, opening the door for the most talented team ever to seek even more improvement.
Later that summer on the Fourth of July, Durant did the unthinkable — he signed with the Warriors.
What Happened Next
The move was met negatively, to put it lightly, and with near-unanimous rage, to put it honestly. Overnight, Durant went from the league’s most lovable star to its biggest villain. The same Oklahoma City community that had watched his rise with amazement now prayed for his downfall on bended knee.
Over four seasons with the Warriors, KD would take home two championships and two Finals MVP awards. His first return to Oklahoma City was relentlessly documented. Fans brought cupcake billboards, implying that Durant was mentally soft — and those were just the insults that television broadcasters were willing to show.
Durant would eventually have a falling out with the Warriors, and he signed with the Brooklyn Nets in 2019 and the Phoenix Suns in 2023. Despite personal success and near-constant stat-stuffing, KD has not won another title since leaving his superteam in the Bay Area.
Meanwhile, the Thunder eventually let go of the remaining pieces from the Durant era and entered a full-scale rebuild. Through savvy trades and successful draft picks that were applauded across NBA circles, Thunder GM Sam Presti was able to accelerate the franchise’s resurgence.
By 2024, they were back in the postseason. One year later, they finally brought home their first title in the modern era.
Entering the new season, KD and OKC have now both won rings, confirming mutual success from the messy and public divorce of a humble franchise and its once-underappreciated star — just not in the way anyone expected back in the glory days.
Now, Here We Are
As the 2025 NBA season tips off Tuesday night, Durant returns to the Paycom Center. The stadium went under the names Oklahoma City Arena and Chesapeake Energy Arena during KD’s time there, but it’s safe to assume he still knows the building all too well.
The two-time NBA champion will head back to his old stomping grounds — this time, to face off with the current reigning champs while wearing Rocket red.
Emotions among both parties are sure to be high, but whether those intense feelings will boil over into nostalgic gratitude or reignited resentment remains to be seen.
One thing is for certain, though — you’ll want to turn the channel to NBC at 6:30 p.m. Central.
Welcome to the 2025–26 Houston Rockets season.