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Insider Hints That Kevin Durant Could Leave NBA For Rival League originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
In what feels like a bi-yearly tradition, two-time NBA Champion and 15-time NBA All-Star, Kevin Durant, is unhappy with his current team and is expected to be on the move.
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While the Phoenix Suns had plenty of high-profile players with hopes of winning a title after trading for Durant in 2022-23, they ended up getting bounced out of the second round twice, eliminated in the first round another year and missing it this year. The Durant-led Suns also cycled through three different coaches during his tenure.
As teams such as the Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs position themselves to throw together a package for the 36-year-old star, NBA insider Bill Simmons recently flirted with the idea that Durant’s days in the NBA could be numbered.
While discussing Durant’s trade saga with Zach Lowe on June 12, Simmons threw out the possibility that Durant may be eyeing a move to an emerging league that is hoping to rival the NBA.
“Or maybe he just wants the one year because he wants to play in this goofy rival league that I talked about with Chuck Klosterman the other day,” Simmons said. “This F1 international basketball league that I think is a little closer to actually being real than a lot of people seem to give it credit for.”
Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35).Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
While the league, headlined by LeBron James’ business partner Maverick Carter, seems to still be in the works, Simmons hinted the day prior that some of the NBA’s top players, like Durant could be making the move.
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“What they’re telling people is that they have a couple major stars that are gonna be joining that are gonna be jaw-dropping,” Simmons said to Klosterman. “It’s pretty clear, ’cause Maverick Carter is running this or is one of the people involved in pushing it, that he’s dangling [that] LeBron [James] is gonna be one of the people that do it. Could it be Kevin Durant?
“My guess is it’s probably older famous superstars nearing the end of their career who are just gonna do it, where they would get a bunch of money, probably equity in the league. And it’s a financial play and you try to build something.”
Aside from this possibly being a business venture for Durant, he also has a multimedia company in Boardroom, is involved in the cannabis technology company Weedmaps and also co-owns pickleball teams D.C. Pickleball Team and the Brooklyn Aces.
If Durant were to leave the NBA it’d be a jaw-dropping move, but he has proven he is willing to make the unpopular and unorthodox decisions in years past.
Related: Heat’s ‘Fallback’ Player Identified if They Miss on Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 17, 2025, where it first appeared.
