Kevin Durant Pushes Back on Rockets' Plan to Cut His Minutes

The 37-year-old forward said he is 'better on the court' when asked about Houston's hopes of reducing his workload for 2026-27.

Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant said Monday that he sees no reason to reduce his playing time, responding bluntly when asked about management's plans to lighten his load in 2026-27. General manager Rafael Stone and coach Ime Udoka have discussed trimming Durant's minutes at points during the upcoming season, according to the question posed at media day.

Durant's answer was simple: "Why? I'm better on the court. The team is better when I'm on the court. That's what I'm supposed to be training for is to play the long haul, 48 minutes a night."

Durant, 37, averaged 36.4 minutes per game for Houston in 2025-26, the third-highest figure in the NBA, and appeared in 78 of 82 regular-season games. He then missed all but one game of the Rockets' first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers after a right knee contusion in practice before Game 1 and a left ankle sprain during Game 2.

Durant ranked third on the Rockets in plus/minus at +4.4 per game last season. Houston's offense struggled badly in the Lakers series without him, posting the fourth-lowest offensive rating and third-lowest true shooting percentage among the sixteen playoff teams.

The Rockets return largely the same supporting cast around Durant. Fred VanVleet is expected back but is coming off ACL recovery, and the team added guard Bogdan Bogdanovic in the offseason.