Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant. Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Report: NBA exec believes Kevin Durant more likely to retire than play for Nets again

By Victor Barbosa | Last updated 8/15/22

Kevin Durant will be 34 years old in September. He's spent nearly half of his life as an NBA athlete (albeit with one lost season due to injury and a couple more with significant missed time), but is still widely considered to be one of the best players in the game.

Durant's 29.9 points and 37.2 minutes per game during the 2021-22 season were his highest in eight years, his 6.4 assists per contest and 91.0% free throw percentage were career highs and his 7.4 rebounds per game was his best mark since his first season with the Golden State Warriors.

Despite still being at the top of his game, a report from Marc Stein indicates one NBA executive believes that the future Hall of Famer could possibly call it quits if his summer saga with the Brooklyn Nets doesn't soon find a resolution.

An NBA executive believes Kevin Durant is more likely to retire than play for the Nets again, per @TheSteinLine

There’s a ‘growing expectation’ that KD could cause ‘a ruckus’ to get the Nets to make a trade pic.twitter.com/ju01EPHIEM
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 15, 2022

It's been more than six weeks since Durant requested a trade out of Brooklyn and it was recently reported that the superstar saw a pair of fellow Atlantic Division rival squads in the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers as "welcome" landing spots. One week ago came the bombshell report that the 12-time All-Star had recently given Nets owner Joe Tsai the ultimatum of firing general manager Sean Marks and head coach Steve Nash, or trading him.

With or without Durant, Brooklyn will open their 2022-23 regular season in October.

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