Why Kevin Durant thinks Austin is a ‘basketball city’
KXAN Austin
by: Billy Gates
Posted: Feb 19, 2025 / 06:25 PM CST
Updated: Feb 19, 2025 / 06:25 PM CST
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.
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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.”
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Kevin Durant gears up for Austin homecoming as Suns visit Spurs tonight
While it’s a home game for the Spurs, it’s a homecoming for KD, who will play in Austin for the 1st time since starring at Texas.
Tim Reynolds | The Associated Press
Kevin Durant is looking forward to returning to Austin for Thursday’s game against the Spurs.
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Kevin Durant went back to the Bay Area last weekend. He’s now going back to school.
A nostalgic time for Phoenix’s All-Star forward continues Thursday, when Durant and the Suns play San Antonio in Austin, Texas — a home game for the Spurs (9:30 p.m. ET, TNT) and a homecoming for Durant, since the game brings him back to where he played his one college season with the Longhorns.
“It does mean a lot to me,” Durant said. “I’m excited that we get to go back to play a regular-season game there. Austin is a place where I kind of started this journey, and to have so many friends and family that are still there from, what, 16, 17 years ago is pretty sweet. So, I appreciate the NBA for setting this up. This is a unique time.”
Durant’s lone season in Austin was 2006-07, and he was college basketball’s best player that year. He averaged 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds, finishing the season ranked fourth nationally in both of those categories on his way to being selected as player of the year by The Associated Press and a number of other outlets.
He declared for the draft after that season, went No. 2 overall to Seattle in 2007 and the accolades keep piling up. Durant is the only men’s player in USA Basketball history to win four Olympic gold medals, he won two championships with Golden State — returning to the Bay this past weekend after being selected as an All-Star for the 15th time — and just became the eighth player in NBA history to eclipse the 30,000-point mark.
“I think it’s an awesome opportunity for himself — and for the city of Austin to come out and support one of our great players who is still in the prime of his career right now,” Texas coach Rodney Terry said. “He’s scored over 30,000 points, he’s one of the all-time scorers at the next level, one of the all-time scorers at the collegiate level. But to have an opportunity come back where you played collegiately, to play a professional game against one of the best organizations in all of professional sports in the Spurs, you can’t ask for a better scenario.”
This is the third consecutive season that the Spurs have played two home games in Austin, about 75 miles northeast of San Antonio. The Spurs see Austin as part of a mega-region that they’ve been cultivating for years, even stretching into Mexico — and this year’s home games help break up the annual rodeo road trip. The San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo typically send the Spurs on the road for much of February, so this year’s games in Austin break up that window.
The Spurs also play in Austin on Friday against Detroit. The Suns got to Austin on Tuesday and one of Durant’s first stops was the Longhorns’ practice.
“I’m going to try to roam around the city a little bit,” Durant said this past weekend when asked if he had plans to check out some of his favorite places in Austin. “I don’t have a set schedule, but I’ve got some stuff I want to see.”
Austin is very much a Spurs town; the team’s G League affiliate plays there and plenty of fans at the Moody Center on Thursday and Friday will surely be wearing Victor Wembanyama jerseys. But there’s going to be a slew of Texas jerseys and Durant garb visible in the crowd on Thursday, for good reason.
“To have him come back here and be here this week and be around our guys and see our guys, I mean, you can’t ask for anything better than that,” Terry said. “A lot of our guys’ favorite player is Kevin Durant. Why they chose to come to Texas was Kevin Durant. He’s had an incredible impact not only on our basketball program but also on our athletic program as a whole. He’s an incredible ambassador for Texas athletics.”
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Suns vs. Spurs odds, score prediction, start time: 2025 NBA picks, Feb. 20 bets by proven model
The San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns look to start their playoff pushes successfully as they match up on Thursday night. San Antonio (23-29) lost three of their last four games heading into the All-Star break. Phoenix (26-28) ended the first half on a 1-6 slide and looks to get off to a fast start to appease a disappointed fan base. The teams have met once this year, a 104-93 Suns victory at home in early December. The Spurs were dealt a crushing blow on Thursday when they found out that center Victor Wembanyama is dealing with a blood clot in his shoulder and is expected to miss the remainder of the 2024-25 NBA season.
Tipoff from the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET, with the Spurs the designated home team in this neutral-site location. Phoenix is listed as a 2.5-point favorite in the latest Spurs vs. Suns odds, per SportsLine consensus. The over/under is 238 points, a dramatic increase from opening at 229.5. Phoenix is at -147 on the money line, while San Antonio comes in at +124. Before you make any Suns vs. Spurs picks, you’ll want to see the NBA predictions from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times and has returned well over $10,000 in betting profit for $100 players on its top-rated NBA picks over the past six-plus seasons. The model enters the second half of the 2024-25 NBA season on a sizzling 147-104 roll on all top-rated NBA picks dating back to last season, returning nearly $4,000. It’s also an outstanding 18-9 (67%) on top-rated spread picks this season. Anyone following at sportsbooks and on betting apps could have seen huge returns.
Now, the model has set its sights on Suns vs. Spurs and just locked in its picks and NBA predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see its picks. Here are several NBA betting lines for Spurs vs. Suns:
Phoenix still features two of the best players in the NBA Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. Durant leads the team averaging 27.3 points per game, but has missed 13 games already this season. For the Suns to make a serious playoff run, he needs to remain healthy and play at a high level to lead the team’s success. Booker is averaging 26.2 points and 6.7 assists, having arguably been the team’s best player throughout the season.
If Bradley Beal can return effectively and stay healthy, it would be a huge boost for Phoenix over the season’s last 28 games. Beal has only played in 37 games but is averaging 17.3 points per contest. The Suns can also use a big second half from new center Nick Richards, who was acquired from Charlotte in January. In 14 games in Phoenix, Richards has posted five double-doubles and is averaging 8.8 points and 10.0 rebounds per contest. See which team to pick here.
Seven Spurs players are averaging in double-digit points per game, including Devin Vassell (15.9), rookie Stephon Castle (12.9), Harrison Barnes (11.9), Jeremy Sochan (11.7), and Keldon Johnson (11.5). Additionally, forward Julian Champagnie averages 9.9 points per game, showing off the balance the San Antonio offensive attack displays. Castle is the current betting favorite for Rookie of the Year and scored 16 points against Phoenix in their only meeting earlier this year.
Guard De’Aaron Fox also gives San Antonio’s offense an explosive playmaker. Fox is averaging 24.6 points, 6.3 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game this season. He’s knocking down 47.1% of his field goals and has scored 23 or more points in four of his five games with San Antonio. See which team to pick here.
The model has simulated Spurs vs. Suns 10,000 times and the results are in. The model is going Under on the total, projecting 232 combined points. It also says one side of the spread hits in almost 60% of simulations. You can only see the NBA picks at SportsLine.
So who wins Spurs vs. Suns, and which side of the spread hits almost 60% of the time? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Suns vs. Spurs spread you need to jump on, all from the model that is on a 147-104 roll on top-rated NBA picks, and find out.
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