Why Kevin Durant thinks Austin is a 'basketball city'

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Kevin Durant spent one year as a Texas Longhorn, and granted it was one of the greatest seasons in program history, his connection to the team and Austin runs deeper than his one-and-done 2006-07 season.

Durant is back in Austin as a member of the Phoenix Suns, and they'll take on the San Antonio Spurs in the first game of this season's I-35 Series on Thursday at Moody Center. He remembers his days on campus, playing inside the Frank Erwin Center and all the people he met when he was a 17-year-old away from home for the first time.

"This was kind of the foundation, once you leave home and you kind of jump into the real world. This was my entry point," Durant said. "I learned a lot from people and I grew as a human being, which helped me grow on the basketball court. I lean on my former teammates and my Texas family when I go through a lot of stuff, so this was a vital time in my life. I hold on to it dearly."

Durant averaged 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds per game for the Longhorns, winning every relevant national player of the year award and helping Texas get to the second round of the NCAA tournament. He was the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA draft after that season, going to the Seattle SuperSonics (now the Oklahoma City Thunder), so while his time in Austin was short, it meant a lot to him. That's why connecting with this generation of Longhorns is so important to him because the players who wore burnt orange before him did the same.

"TJ (Ford), Royal (Ivey), PJ Tucker, LaMarcus (Aldridge), Daniel Gibson, the whole crew. They poured into me as a young guy, accepting me as part of the family when I was still in high school and when I committed here," he said. "I knew those relationships would last a long time. These are my brothers, men and people that I hold on to dearly. I look forward to adding more and more younger players into the family."

It's the fourth year of the I-35 Series where the Spurs take over Moody Center for a pair of games as part of the NBA regular season, and fans have packed the arena every game. Moody Center's capacity for Texas games sits around 10,000 but can be expanded to roughly 15,000 when the upper-level seats are open.

It'll be Durant's first time in the new building after he played his one season at the Erwin Center, nicknamed "The Drum" due to its snare drum-like design. It was leveled in 2024 to make room for UT's Dell Medical School expansion, but Durant remembers the cavernous venue fondly. He said it was like an NBA arena because he was used to playing in church auditoriums while in high school, and it was even cooler when students would camp outside to get tickets for games the next day.

That's one reason why Durant thinks Austin is, as he said, "a basketball city." He said the support for both the men's and women's programs at Texas, plus how fans show out for the Spurs when they play here, makes him love Austin even more.

"I think it's going to be an electric time. People are excited for NBA basketball in Austin," he said. "Of course, they're going to show out for the Spurs and a former Longhorn like myself, but I think if any team came here, they'd be excited. It's a beautiful arena that's fit for NBA basketball."

He's also part of a group trying to bring the WNBA to Austin. By all accounts, Cleveland is going to be the next city the league expands in, but Durant feels the success of the Longhorns women's program proves there's a viable market for a professional team here.

"We've always had major support here in Austin for women's basketball," he said. "We had one of the greatest coaches to come through here, some of the greatest players. Our coach now is also one of the greatest and we've got great young talent with Maddie (Booker) here too, all down the line. This city is prime for basketball, but especially women's basketball at the highest level. I don't think we'll stop trying to bring that here to Austin."