Kevin Durant was drafted second by the Seattle SuperSonics, which folded seventeen years ago. After his rookie season, the SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City, where they were renamed the Thunder. Since then, his influence has shaped not only every team he has been on, but the entire league. It's easy to see on the court: when he entered the NBA, big men were still hardcore first and foremost. He was long and lithe, with the grace and agility of a guard; there was some confusion as to what position he should play. The league right now is full of talented big men who can pass, shoot, and defend and are not easily stopped or tamed. Durant has been the protagonist of various narratives that have dominated conversations around the league, particularly those surrounding team loyalty, individual agency, how individuals interact and what motivates players. What are these stories – and not narrower discussions of tactics, plus-minus ratings or something else –did seems to be so important to so many people, has been, depending on who you ask, for better or worse.
Durant, for example, was often irritated by the way he was portrayed. But he was never able to fully shake his status as a leading man, and it's unclear whether he even wanted to. He became an MVP while playing for the Thunder before turning a great Golden State Warriors team into a dynasty and then ending his reign when he moved to the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets were a disaster, and his next team, the Phoenix Suns, suffered an even more dramatic defeat. His playing style was never to blame: he still moves like water, with the same ability for stillness or rushing power. Off the court, he pursued media projects with his entertainment company Boardroom and devoted himself to other interests, including, famously, responding to online trolls. He explained that he liked the “dopamine hit” of clapping back. “It’s like my morning coffee.”
Last Tuesday, on NBA opening night, Durant made his debut with the Houston Rockets. His teammates are young and on the rise, with a fifty-two win season and eleven players under thirty, including three starters twenty-three or younger. Durant is thirty-seven years old. There was a lot of talk about how much his teammates could learn from his elite example: how to train, how to eat, how to rest, how to compete. But he's not just here to teach. The Rockets signed Durant to a two-year, ninety-million-dollar extension—a good deal for the team, yes, but still the kind of money you pay for a player you expect to be the best on your roster. The Rockets are betting that Durant, despite most players well past retirement age, can turn them into true title contenders. He makes some things feasible, including a lineup full of big players, which team coach Ime Udoka has begun using to stymie teams with more normal heights. However, I admit that the storytelling possibilities seem even more tempting to me. This is an unpredictable chapter in the life of a complex and compelling man.
The enormous importance of the league's oldest stars is nothing new. LeBron James I'll be forty-one this year. Stephen Curry he is thirty-seven years old and will play for the Warriors along with Al Horford (thirty-nine), Jimmy Butler (thirty-six) and Draymond Green (thirty-five). And the Warriors aren't even the oldest team in the league; it will be the Los Angeles Clippers, God help them. Athletes in many sports are extending their careers by paying more attention to nutrition, training methods and financial incentives. But now the trend seems especially noticeable in basketball.
This is surprising given some of the changes in the league. The pace of the game becomes increasingly difficult. More and more teams are playing full defense and catching ball carriers. These strategies favor fresh legs and bodies with less wear and tear, younger players who can handle a long regular season and make it through the spring.
And a number of dominant players came into the league after the James-Curry-Durant cohort: Giannis Antetokounmponow thirty, was an irresistible force. Nikola JokicHe's also thirty and considered by many to be the best player in the league. Current MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexandertwenty seven, and Luka DoncicThe favorite to be the next MVP is twenty-six years old. The average age of this year's champion Thunder is 25.6 years old, almost eight years younger than the Clippers, and the team the Thunder beat in the Finals, the Indiana Pacers, also had a rotation made up almost entirely of players aged thirty or younger. The Thunder are the consensus pick to win the championship again this season.
