Kevin Durant rejects the opportunity to play alongside Stephen Curry again with the Warriors

Kevin Durant joined the Houston Rockets this offseason ahead of the 2025-26 NBA season, where he is expected to be the leader and centerpiece of a young team hungry to compete. However, things could have been very different, as there was a chance for Durant to reunite with Stephen Curry in the Golden State Warriors.

The Phoenix Suns decided that the Durant era in Phoenix was coming to an end, and the 15-time All-Star was sent to the Houston Rockets in a record-breaking trade. While appearing on the Game Plan Sports Business Summit, Durant reflected on his fallout with the Suns.

“Initially, I was a little upset because I felt like we built a solid relationship, me and the Phoenix Suns, and to hear that from a different party was kind of upsetting, but that’s just the name of the game. So I got over that quickly and was trying to figure out what the next steps were,” Durant said, according to RealGM.com.

A lot of drama took place between the Suns and Kevin Durant after years of failing to return to championship contention. Phoenix has struggled to replicate its 2021 Finals run since that season.

Durant’s decision to veto a trade

Durant also revealed that he decided to veto a trade that would have sent him back to the team where he won both of his NBA championships and earned two Finals MVPs: the Golden State Warriors.

see also

Warriors face what they didn’t expect — pressure from Curry, Butler, and Green over the Jonathan Kuminga situation

“I heard Golden State was in the mix around the trade deadline, but that’s when (Durant’s business partner and manager) Rich (Kleiman) came into play, and those relationships that we built around the league and also playing in Golden State helped,” Durant said. “We were able to tell them to kind of hold off on that.”

It would have been a fantasy scenario: Durant returning to the Warriors alongside veterans like Draymond Green, Stephen Curry, and even a prime Jimmy Butler, forming a hypothetical dream team reminiscent of Golden State’s dynasty years.

However, after the relationship with the Suns fell apart, Houston seized the opportunity to acquire the superstar forward. He now joins a Rockets roster that includes Alperen Sengun, Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson, and more, giving the team a new foundation to build around Durant.