Kevin Durant Gets Brutally Honest on Time with Suns

PHOENIX -- Houston Rockets superstar Kevin Durant did not hold back postgame on what it meant for him to hit a game-winning 3-pointer against the Phoenix Suns to give Houston a 100-97 victory Monday night.

"(Phoenix was) a place I didn't want to leave," Durant said. "I don't want to sound to dramatic, but to be kicked out of a place and felt like I've been scapegoated for the issues we had as a team last year, yeah it felt good to beat them and hit a game-winning shot.

”But that's all it is. It's just for the moment. Tomorrow I won't even think about it. It was a fun game, of course, yeah, you play with a little chip on your shoulder against your former team, especially when they trade you."

KD talks making the game winner and if it meant more making that game winner against the Suns. He said he didn't want to leave and felt scapegoated.

“ I don't want to sound to dramatic but to be kicked out of a place.”

Went on to say of course you play with a chip on your… pic.twitter.com/jD3Q4jvCgS
— Lachard Binkley (@BinkleyHoops) January 6, 2026

Durant cashed in the triple over Royce O'Neale with 1.1 seconds left in a game that was back-and-forth until the very end.

This was Durant's second game against his former team since he was traded to Houston this past summer, which he now made very clear about how he felt.

Durant finished the night with 26 points and 10 rebounds, as his Rockets improved to 22-11 on the season and 3-0 against the Suns (21-15).

Durant went more in depth on his feelings of sinking the big shot against his former team.

"It feels good to play against a team that booted out of the building and scapegoated you for all the problems that they had, and it hurts because I put all my effort and love and care towards the Suns and the Phoenix area and Arizona in general," Durant said (via The Arizona Republic's Duane Rankin).

"But that's just the business, that's the name of the game, so when you play against the team, yeah you got a chip on your shoulder. You don't want to have too big of a chip so that it gets in the way of the game or my teammates, but in the back of my mind it's there.

"It's nothing but love for the players, but I want to beat that team. I want to show them that I still got some juice in the tank, even though I'm old, I still can play. I feel like every player has that mentality playing against their former team. I don't think it's malicious in any way towards them, but as a competitor, you want to go out there and beat them."

Durant is averaging 25.7 points even at 37 years old in his first season in Houston and showing no signs of slowing down for the Rockets, who are currently in fourth place in the Western Conference.

KEVIN DURANT HITS THE CLUTCH 3 TO WIN IT FOR HOUSTON 🚨 pic.twitter.com/1lC1qjT0Ok
— NBA (@NBA) January 6, 2026

Reflecting on Kevin Durant's Time With Suns

During his 2.5 seasons in Phoenix, Durant averaged 26.8 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 52.7% from the field and 42.7% from 3 across 145 games played.

However, the Suns could not find any success after going all in on a trio of Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, getting swept in the first round of the 2024 playoffs and missing the playoffs entirely with a 36-46 record last season.

Over the summer, Phoenix decided to do an identity reset, which has paid off so far this season, but saw them make several changes in the front office, coaching staff and up and down the roster.

The biggest move was trading Durant to Houston for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the draft rights to Khaman Maluach, Rasheer Fleming and Koby Brea, as well as a 2026 second-round pick.

The trade went down following months of rumors after Phoenix blindsided Durant by nearly completing a trade to send him back to the Golden State Warriors ahead of last February's trade deadline.

Suns owner Mat Ishbia explained why Phoenix moved on from Durant in the offseason.

"We're really excited about the players we got," Ishbia said in September. "Kevin Durant's a great player. There's nobody that could ever question that. (He) just wasn't a fit for what we're doing going forward. Obviously, he's had an amazing career, but he's not a fit for what we're going to do moving forward."

Before last night's comments, Durant had not been so openly direct about his feelings on the trade since right after the news broke when he said:

"(Suns fans) wanted me to go. They got what they wanted and I got what I wanted so we can move on. Good luck to them moving forward - I'll always remember my time there but we're on to something else."

The trade marked a turning point for both franchises, and right now Durant is seeing more success in Houston, but the Suns are also exceeding all preseason expectations.

Naturally, there's no doubt it feels good for Durant to hit such a big shot against the Suns after all the drama he and them went through the past couple seasons.

Booker, who was playing his first game of the year against Durant, still has a lot of respect for his former teammate.

"It's always a pleasure," Booker said of playing against Durant postgame (via Rankin). "He's done so much for this game. He's done so much for me personally. Any chance I can be out there with one of my idols, somebody that I have a high respect for, there's nothing like it. That's all you can ask for."

The two teams won't square off again until April 7 in Phoenix, which would mark Durant's first time back in the Valley if he plays after he missed the teams' Nov. 24 meeting due to personal reasons.

Reflecting on Kevin Durant's Time With Suns

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