The Houston Rockets will kick off their 2025-26 campaign on Tuesday against the reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder, and when they take the court, they will look quite different from the last time we saw them. Easily the biggest change is the fact that Kevin Durant will be suiting up for the team after getting acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Phoenix Suns.
In picking up Durant, the Rockets are hoping that he will take them to the next level in their quest to win a championship. The partnership between the two sides hasn’t even officially kicked off, but it seems like they are both on the same page, as Durant put pen to paper on a two-year, $90 million contract extension on Sunday morning. And in the process, he passed Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James on a significant all-time NBA list.
Kevin Durant Passes LeBron James on All-Time Career Earnings List
Investing the sort of resources the Rockets have invested in Durant may seem a bit risky at first glance. He just turned 37 years old at the end of September, and he has a history of being flaky when it comes to committing his long-term future to one team. After spending the first nine seasons of his career with the Thunder, Durant has bounced around, suiting up for the Golden State Warriors, Brooklyn Nets, and Suns since then.
Durant isn’t your typical basketball player, though. In fact, you can make an argument that he’s getting better with time. Even though the Suns were a complete mess last season, Durant still turned in a strong season, averaging 26.6 points, six rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game while shooting a blistering 52.7% from the field.
That sort of production is why Houston is comfortable committing such a large amount of money to him, even though he hasn’t taken the court for them yet. Durant’s longevity is becoming impressive, and it’s beginning to rival that of James. In fact, with his new extension, Durant has now surpassed James in terms of NBA career earnings, with his tally of $598.2 million being the highest figure in the history of the league.
“Kevin Durant now holds the record for the highest career earnings in NBA history at $598.2 million based on current and future salaries, surpassing LeBron James ($583.9 million). He has a total of three years and $144.7 million on his current contract,” Shams Charania of ESPN shared in a post on X.
Kevin Durant Looking to Get Rockets Over the Hump
GettyKevin Durant #7 of the Houston Rockets poses for a portrait during media day at Toyota Center on September 29, 2025 in Houston, Texas.
The most unique piece of Durant’s new deal is that he actually left money on the table here. Durant could have signed a two-year, $120 million deal, but he settled for $90 million in an effort to help the Rockets in their quest to construct a championship-caliber roster around him. So while this is a big number, it could have been even larger.
While James’ future with the Lakers has been a hot-button topic of discussion this offseason, there’s a chance that he could sign his own contract extension at some point in the near future, which would put him back ahead of Durant. For the time being, though, Houston’s new star is leading the pack, but at the end of the day, he will be more focused on winning the third title of his career when the new campaign gets started later this week.
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