Durant excited to be playing in Texas again after blockbuster summer trade to Houston Rockets

HOUSTON (AP) — The last time Kevin Durant played for a Texas team, he was a freshman at the University of Texas.

On his 37th birthday on Monday he was officially introduced as a Houston Rocket, returning to the state he’s long been fond of.

“It feels amazing to be back here,” he said at the team’s media day. “I always found my way to Houston throughout the years, just from friends and relationships I’ve built since coming to Texas. So I always felt that it was a place that I could settle in and live actually… so for this opportunity to come around, it felt natural. It felt right.”

Durant joined the Rockets in July in a blockbuster trade that sent Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks to Phoenix. The 15-time All-Star and four-time Olympic gold medalist joins a young team that aims to take another step this season after finishing second in the Western Conference in the regular season before losing in the first round of the playoffs.

General manager Rafael Stone said Monday that he wasn’t necessarily looking to move on from Green, the No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft, and Brooks, but that it’s rare that a team can add a player of Durant’s caliber.

“There’s just not many people in the history of the NBA who have the capacity to do what Kevin’s done consistently throughout his career,” he said. “And it became an opportunity we couldn’t pass up. So, it really had nothing to do with the guys who moved out. It was much more about Kevin and the desire to bring him in. He’s a singular talent and so we’re very excited.”

And despite adding some veterans in the last couple of years, the Rockets remain a young team and coach Ime Udoka believes being around Durant will aid in the development of Houston’s rising stars such as Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson and Jabari Smith Jr.

“Kevin takes it to another level as far as what he does on the court. But not only that, you understand why he is who he is and how he got to that level by what he does every day,” Udoka said. “And so, I think just our young guys working with him and being around him, that’s it’s really going to pay dividends for our team.”

The 22-year-old Thompson can’t believe he has Durant as a teammate.

“It’s crazy,” he said. “I’ve been watching him my whole life. I never thought I was going to be on the team with him. I didn’t know he was going to be playing at this time."

It turns out that Durant is also a fan of Thompson’s and is eager to play with the youngster.

“I don’t think we ever seen that type of athleticism,” Durant said. “The way he uses his athleticism, I don’t think we have seen that in our league, so to be alongside that, I’m excited.”

Durant, who spent the last 2 ½ seasons in Phoenix, is a four-time scoring champion, a two-time NBA Finals MVP and one of eight players in NBA history with more than 30,000 points. He has one year remaining on his contract before becoming a free agent and said Monday that he hopes to sign an extension with the Rockets.

“I do see myself signing a contract extension,” he said. “I can’t tell you exactly when that will happen, but I do see it happening.”

The excitement of his arrival in Houston is tempered by the recent news that Fred VanVleet will miss the season after tearing his ACL. Udoka said they’ll use the committee approach to replace him, but they’ll certainly need Thompson, who is entering his third season, and Reed Sheppard, the No. 3 pick in 2024, to take a step forward this year to absorb the loss.

Durant is optimistic that they have the talent to succeed with VanVleet out.

“We’ve got high IQ guys on the team that know how to play,” he said. “So now we've got to figure out what’s the best way to mesh on the floor and then start executing from Day 1. So, I’m looking forward to that.”

This will be Durant’s 19th NBA season, but he missed one full year because of injury. He averaged 26.6 points last season and has career averages of 27.2 points and seven rebounds.

He has two NBA titles, was the MVP in 2013-14 and an 11-time All-NBA selection. Considering all his accomplishments, what keeps him motivated to continue the grind with 40 on the horizon?

“I just enjoy the process of perfecting the craft or I enjoy competing against myself every day, like being better than I was the day before,” he said. “That’s fun to me. So, I think as you get older you dive into the details of everything in your life... and it’s just kind of fun to be in that mode. So that’s my peaceful place when I’m perfecting and trying to perfect my craft.”

And he can’t wait to take the court representing the state of Texas again after so many years.

“We always got so much support here from me playing at Texas, so I always felt the love every time I came back to Houston,” he said. “So to put on a Rockets jersey, I know it’s going to go to the next level."

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Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) jokes greets mascot Clutch during the NBA basketball team's media day in Houston, Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant participates in the NBA basketball team's media day in Houston, Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Houston Rockets forward Amen Thompson (1) greets forward Kevin Durant (7) and center Alperen Sengun (28) during the NBA basketball team's media day in Houston, Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant speaks to reporters during the NBA basketball team's media day in Houston, Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

HAVANA (AP) — Cuban soldiers wearing white gloves marched out of a plane on Thursday carrying urns with the remains of the 32 Cuban officers killed during a stunning U.S. attack on Venezuela as trumpets and drums played solemnly at Havana's airport.

Nearby, thousands of Cubans lined one of Havana’s most iconic streets to await the bodies of colonels, lieutenants, majors and captains as the island remained under threat by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The soldiers' shoes clacked as they marched stiff-legged into the headquarters of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, next to Revolution Square, with the urns and placed them on a long table next to the pictures of those killed so people could pay their respects.

Thursday’s mass funeral was only one of a handful that the Cuban government has organized in almost half a century.

Hours earlier, state television showed images of more than a dozen wounded people described as “combatants” accompanied by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez arriving Wednesday night from Venezuela. Some were in wheelchairs.

Those injured and the remains of those killed arrived as tensions grow between Cuba and the U.S., with Trump recently demanding that the Caribbean country make a deal with him before it is “too late.” He did not explain what kind of deal.

Trump also has said that Cuba will no longer live off Venezuela's money and oil. Experts warn that the abrupt end of oil shipments could be catastrophic for Cuba, which is already struggling with serious blackouts and a crumbling power grid.

Officials unfurled a massive flag at Havana's airport as President Miguel Díaz-Canel, clad in military garb as commander of Cuba's Armed Forces, stood silent next to former President Raúl Castro, with what appeared to be the relatives of those killed looking on nearby.

Cuban Interior Minister Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casa said Venezuela was not a distant land for those killed, but a “natural extension of their homeland.”

“The enemy speaks to an audience of high-precision operations, of troops, of elites, of supremacy,” Álvarez said in apparent reference to the U.S. “We, on the other hand, speak of faces, of families who have lost a father, a son, a husband, a brother.”

Álvarez called those slain “heroes,” saying that they were an example of honor and “a lesson for those who waver.”

“We reaffirm that if this painful chapter of history has demonstrated anything, it is that imperialism may possess more sophisticated weapons; it may have immense material wealth; it may buy the minds of the wavering; but there is one thing it will never be able to buy: the dignity of the Cuban people,” he said.

Thousands of Cubans lined a street where motorcycles and military vehicles thundered by with the remains of those killed.

“They are people willing to defend their principles and values, and we must pay tribute to them,” said Carmen Gómez, a 58-year-old industrial designer, adding that she hopes no one invades given the ongoing threats.

When asked why she showed up despite the difficulties Cubans face, Gómez replied, “It’s because of the sense of patriotism that Cubans have, and that will always unite us.”

Cuba recently released the names and ranks of 32 military personnel — ranging in age from 26 to 60 — who were part of the security detail of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro during the raid on his residence on January 3. They included members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior, the island’s two security agencies.

Cuban and Venezuelan authorities have said that the uniformed personnel were part of protection agreements between the two countries.

A demonstration was planned for Friday across from the U.S. Embassy in an open-air forum known as the Anti-Imperialist Tribune. Officials have said they expect the demonstration to be massive.

“People are upset and hurt. There’s a lot of talk on social media; but many do believe that the dead are martyrs” of a historic struggle against the United States, analyst and former diplomat Carlos Alzugaray told The Associated Press.

In October 1976, then-President Fidel Castro led a massive demonstration to bid farewell to the 73 people killed in the bombing of a Cubana de Aviación civilian flight financed by anti-revolutionary leaders in the U.S. Most of the victims were Cuban athletes.

In December 1989, officials organized “Operation Tribute” to honor the more than 2,000 Cuban combatants who died in Angola during Cuba’s participation in the war that defeated the South African army and ended the apartheid system. In October 1997, memorial services were held following the arrival of the remains of guerrilla commander Ernesto “Che” Guevara and six of his comrades, who died in 1967.

The latest mass burial is critical to honor those slain, said José Luis Piñeiro, a 60-year-old doctor who lived four years in Venezuela.

“I don’t think Trump is crazy enough to come and enter a country like this, ours, and if he does, he’s going to have to take an aspirin or some painkiller to avoid the headache he’s going to get,” Piñeiro said. “These were 32 heroes who fought him. Can you imagine an entire nation? He’s going to lose.”

A day before the remains of those killed arrived in Cuba, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced $3 million in aid to help the island recover from the catastrophic Hurricane Melissa, which struck in late October.

The first flight took off from Florida on Wednesday, and a second flight was scheduled for Friday. A commercial vessel also will deliver food and other supplies.

“We have taken extraordinary measures to ensure that this assistance reaches the Cuban people directly, without interference or diversion by the illegitimate regime,” Rubio said, adding that the U.S. government was working with Cuba's Catholic Church.

The announcement riled Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez.

“The U.S. government is exploiting what appears to be a humanitarian gesture for opportunistic and politically manipulative purposes,” he said in a statement. “As a matter of principle, Cuba does not oppose assistance from governments or organizations, provided it benefits the people and the needs of those affected are not used for political gain under the guise of humanitarian aid.”

Coto contributed from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Military members pay their last respects to Cuban officers who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, at the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces where the urns containing the remains are displayed during a ceremony in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A motorcade transports urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, through Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Soldiers carry urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, at the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Adalberto Roque /Pool Photo via AP)

A motorcade transports urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, through Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A motorcade transports urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, through Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

People line the streets of Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, to watch the motorcade carrying urns containing the remains of Cuban officers killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Workers fly the Cuban flag at half-staff at the Anti-Imperialist Tribune near the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, in memory of Cubans who died two days before in Caracas, Venezuela during the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by U.S. forces. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)