Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant hinted that he may end up signing his final contract this summer.
Durant told ESPN’s Chris Haynes that he could see himself retiring at the age of 35, which would mean another five or six years of playing in the NBA.
“This game, your craft, you have to continue studying it,” Durant said. “No matter how much you enjoy it, nobody wants to be in school that long. I know I don’t. At some point, you have to be ready to graduate. Thirty-five, that’s just a number in my mind.”
Durant thinks he would be satisfied with his career if he did end it at that point.
“Especially if I continue to approach the game the right way every day like I’ve been doing, hell yeah. Hell yeah I can move on,” Durant said. “No matter how many points I score, no matter how many people I pass up, no matter how many points I leave on the table, my legacy, as we always like to talk about, I can go up and ask any person who has ever seen me play and they’ll have a different way of viewing my game. So, it’s hard for me to go out there and play for that type of stuff because it changes through so many people. So many groups of people probably view my game differently. So, it’s hard for me to focus on that.
“But I will focus on the people that love me the most, that encourage me, that pour into me and vice versa. I value what they say and how they feel about me more so than anything because that’s who I really went through this journey with, those people. That’s what my legacy lies in. I know they’re going to view it as a perfect career no matter what.”
Durant has said the same to business partner Rich Kleiman, though he said he would “believe it when it happens.”
Durant could, in theory, sign a five-year contract this summer without a discount. That would take him to age 34, as he would turn 35 the September after that contract expires.
