Kevin Durant said he wants to retire at 35

With the NBA season now destined to shelve, just like Golden State Warriors’ back-to-back championship, the third in the last four years, it’s now time for the season-ending interviews, when the players talk about what happened and about what will happen next. And if most of the attention is (rightfully) focused on LeBron James’ free agency, there’s also something interesting in the words said by Kevin Durant to ESPN’s Chris Haynes. The former Thunder, that just got his second NBA Finals MVP in two years, has given a very specific date for his retirement, that is curiously the same of his number, 35.

“This game, your craft, you have to continue studying it”, said KD. “No matter how much you enjoy it, nobody wants to be in school that long. I know I don’t. At some point, you have to be ready to graduate. Thirty-five, that’s just a number in my mind.” Durant, that will turn 30 in late September, would give us (at least) five more seasons of his basketball, then become one of the youngest superstars to retire. Only Allen Iverson (34) retired earlier, while Larry Bird did it at 35. Others, like Jordan (40) and Bryant (37) did it way later.

But on the other hand, Durant told ESPN how he wants to walk away “on his own terms”, without being forced to retire maybe for too many injuries. “That’s how I want to leave the game. And if I happen to have all these accolades and these accomplishments, then that’s cool. If not, I’m still cool.”