{"id":65854,"date":"2024-03-04T11:50:06","date_gmt":"2024-03-04T16:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=65854"},"modified":"2024-03-04T11:50:20","modified_gmt":"2024-03-04T16:50:20","slug":"nba-rumors-kevin-durant-returning-to-the-seattle-supersonics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/04\/nba-rumors-kevin-durant-returning-to-the-seattle-supersonics\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Rumors: Kevin Durant Returning to&#8230;the Seattle Supersonics?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a recent interview, Basketball Hall of Famer and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/haywosp01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spencer Haywood<\/a> talked about the idea of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/duranke01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kevin Durant<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/hoopshype.com\/lists\/rising-star-kevin-durants-rookie-year-through-the-eyes-of-seattles-basketball-figures\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">suiting up<\/a> for the Seattle Supersonics again before his NBA career is all said and done:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Me and Durant are still talking about Seattle. We talked about it at the All-Star game [this year]. I can\u2019t go any further \u2013 there\u2019s some sneaky stuff going on that I can\u2019t talk about because it\u2019s private. But I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if I see him in a Sonics uniform [again]. I was with his mother at the All-Star game \u2013 with him and his mother, everybody. I\u2019m just saying.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Durant spent the first season of his career in Seattle. After averaging 20.3 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, Durant won the 2008 Rookie of the Year award. Interestingly, Durant is not the only Supersonics alum still playing in the league. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/greenje02.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jeff Green<\/a>, current Houston Rockets forward, is the only other active NBA player who played for the Supersonics. Yes, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/westbru01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-04_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Russell Westbrook<\/a> was technically drafted by Seattle. However, he never suited up for the team until they became the Oklahoma City Thunder.<\/p>\n<p>Haywood&#8217;s comments seem outlandish since the Supersonics have not been around in many years. That said, NBA commissioner Adam Silver has been open to possibly bringing another NBA team to Seattle in an <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2023\/07\/12\/nba-office-looking-at-expansion\/\" target=\"_self\">expansion<\/a>. Although nothing is guaranteed, there is certainly a chance the Seattle Supersonics make a return sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">\u201cExpansion is a possibility.\u201d &#8211; Adam Silver, Commissioner of the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@NBA<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here we go\u2026.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/lBD0cyJdoi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/lBD0cyJdoi<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Iconic Sonics (@Iconic_sonics) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Iconic_sonics\/status\/1665548253654335488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 5, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>NBA Rumors: Kevin Durant Returning to&#8230;the Seattle Supersonics?<\/h2>\n<h3>Kevin Durant Wants the Seattle Supersonics to Return<\/h3>\n<p>In February, Durant talked about wanting to be a part of the Supersonics franchise if they ever make a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/2024\/02\/21\/kevin-durant-teases-possible-role-seattle-supersonics-expansion-team\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">return to the NBA<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>While talking to Boardroom, Durant was asked if he\u2019d like to be a part of a rebooted SuperSonics franchise if the opportunity became available to him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWithout a doubt, without a doubt\u201d Durant answered. \u201cI feel like that franchise, for one, is a iconic brand within the NBA. I feel like that market is a basketball market that needs the influence of an NBA team in that city.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Furthermore, the current Phoenix Suns forward mentioned he would like to return to the franchise AFTER his playing career is over:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI believe it will be back,\u201d Durant said of NBA basketball in Seattle. \u201cI believe it will be part of expansion in the league and to help run the team and help guide the team as they come back into the league. I would absolutely love that. When I retire, obviously, that\u2019s a dream come true.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The Seattle Supersonics drafted Kevin Durant with the No. 2 overall pick on this day in 2007 \ud83d\ude4c<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/M2WJhWrZS5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/M2WJhWrZS5<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Kevin Durant Nation (@KDNationCP) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KDNationCP\/status\/1674064140380323840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 28, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>The Last Word<\/h3>\n<p>Durant is currently 35 years old and is under contract through the 2025-26 season. Even if Seattle had an NBA franchise today, it seems highly unlikely the two-time champion would suit up for the team. At this point, Durant probably has just a <a href=\"https:\/\/hoopshype.com\/2024\/02\/28\/kevin-durant-on-how-much-longer-he-will-play-another-10-years-would-be-crazy\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">few years left<\/a> in his career anyway. The idea of him leaving a contender like the Suns for a completely new team does not make sense. Still, the Supersonics franchise meant a lot to Seattle and the NBA. Seeing it return at some point down the line would be amazing to see.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a recent interview, Basketball Hall of Famer and Spencer Haywood talked about the idea of Kevin Durant suiting up for the Seattle Supersonics again before his NBA career is all said and done: Me and Durant are still talking about Seattle. We talked about it at the All-Star game [this year]. I can\u2019t go [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4631,"featured_media":65884,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,25,62,3,22,28],"tags":[49038,130,69,4774,53,1031,2197],"class_list":["post-65854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-warriors","category-nba","category-news","category-thunder","category-suns","tag-2024-nba-rumors","tag-jeff-green","tag-kevin-durant","tag-rumors","tag-russell-westbrook","tag-seattle-supersonics","tag-spencer-haywood"],"modified_by":"Elie Deglaoui","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4631"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}