The Longhorns legend headlines a Houston Rockets team set to make a nationally-televised appearance in one of the NBA's marquee spots to begin the 2026-27 season.
Former Texas Longhorns star Kevin Durant is entering Year 19 in the NBA, and Year 2 back in the Lone Star State with the Houston Rockets.
Even pushing two decades as a superstar in the league, and nearly at the age of 38, Durant remains one of the most prolific scorers in the league.
It's for that reason that Durant's Rockets have received a marquee slot in the NBA's schedule rollout this week.
Durant is returning to Austin to face Wembanyama's Spurs
KD will play inside the Moody Center on the UT campus in Austin on Friday, Oct. 23.
The matchup with the Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs will be the back half of a double-header streaming live on Prime Video in the platform's first broadcast package of the season.
This is a neutral site that practically splits the difference between Houston and San Antonio, but the Rockets are listed as the visiting team. Still, Durant is expected to get a warm Longhorns welcome from the fanbase that helped launch his eventual Hall of Fame career.
The game is set for 8:30 p.m. CT and serves as the Rockets' first road game of the season. It will follow a historic Eastern Conference matchup: the reigning champs, the New York Knicks, playing at the Boston Celtics.
The Rockets also have a spotlight game on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, playing at the Memphis Grizzlies on 7:30 p.m. on NBC and Peacock.
The NBA has held games at the Moody Center for the past three years, but this will be the first featuring two Texas-based teams.
The individual matchup between Durant and Victor Wembanyama is another storyline layered on top of the team's proxemics rivalry.
The athletic 7-foot-5 Wemby often received comparisons to Durant upon entering the league for how they both excel with similar physiques. The Frenchman is typically known for his defensive prowess (leading the NBA in blocks each of his three seasons, and this past year, becoming the first unanimous Defensive Player of the Year) over his offensive skill set, but that creates a matchup between Durant's face-up game and the never-ending arms of Wembanyama that will be must-see television.
In 2025-26, Durant earned his 16th All-Star selection after averaging 26.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 78 starts and over 36 minutes per game.
The DMV native and former National Player of the Year with the Longhorns is on the downswing of his career, but last season proved that he isn't quite ready to hang up his sneakers ... at least when it comes to his physical sharpness.
However, the fact that Durant's future is uncertain could mean Houston receives several high-profile game slots in the coming years' schedules, as the league pays homage to KD's legacy in front of a national audience.
His Rockets are coming off a 52-30 season that was made more impressive by being without starting point guard Fred VanVleet. The fifth seed in the West, Houston fell in six games to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.
The Moody Center will host 18 home games for the Texas Longhorns this season in the program's second season under head coach Sean Miller.
The Horns' regular-season opener matchup at the Moody is set for Nov. 2 against Chicago State.
