Suns Star Kevin Durant Speaks on Return to Texas

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns' matchup tonight against the San Antonio Spurs will be a very special one for Kevin Durant.

The Suns and Spurs will be squaring off at Moody Center located at the University of Texas Austin, where Durant went to college.

“It does mean a lot to me,” Durant said (via AP's Tim Reynolds). “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 was named the AP Player of the Year among several other awards after his lone season for the Longhorns in 2006-07, when he averaged 25.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.9 blocks.

“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 (via Reynolds). “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.”

Both the Suns with a 26-28 record coming out of the All-Star break and the Spurs with a 23-29 record enter tonight desperately trying to string some wins together.

However, San Antonio released devastating news today that All-Star sensation Victor Wembanyama would be out for the season with deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder.

Durant had high praise for Wembanyama, who has often drawn comparisons to him because of his guard-like and shooting abilities as a big man, during a press conference yesterday.

"He's on the right path to being one of the greatest we've ever seen," Durant said. "It's just about going through those experiences in real time and learning from them to get better."

He added: "It's still early for him, his second year. He's yet to be in the playoffs, which is an eye-opening experience for every player, especially (of) his caliber. I don't think anything is missing. I just think he needs to experience more in the NBA."

The two All-Stars now won't be going head to head, but Durant is sure to get a warm welcome in front of his former home crowd even in a road matchup for the Suns.