Kevin Durant never thought the beginning of a dynasty would be the beginning of the end.
More than a decade removed from his meteoric rise in Oklahoma City, the two-time champion and Finals MVP is now reflecting on a Thunder team that was too good, too soon — and a franchise that wasn’t quite ready for it.
Durant sat down with Lakers star LeBron James and Steve Nash on the Mind the Game podcast, revisiting the Thunder’s 2012 NBA Finals run that dazzled fans, shocked the league, and ultimately unraveled with the trade of James Harden to Houston.
“We exceeded expectations with that team. We sped up the timeline. I don’t think they were ready for us to be contenders every year,” Durant revealed.
That young OKC squad was ahead of their time. @KDTrey5 breaks down his old Thunder days and more on Part 1 of a new episode. Watch on our YouTube, @PrimeVideo or listen wherever you get your podcasts. https://t.co/5spQonrHD6
— Mind the Game (@mindthegamepod) July 1, 2025
He was just 23 at that time, but was already a scoring champion and MVP runner-up. Russell Westbrook had become an All-Star. Harden was the reigning Sixth Man of the Year. Serge Ibaka was the league’s premier shot blocker.
They weren’t supposed to reach the Finals that early — and yet they did. But that’s when everything changed.
Instead of building around their young core, the Thunder traded Harden to the Houston Rockets months after their Finals loss to the Miami Heat — which featured James at his peak together with co-stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
Durant now views that moment as a turning point that derailed what could have been a generational run.
“Since we reached the Finals, you’re supposed to upgrade and fine-tune and make changes around. You can’t just pull one of the key figures off the team and expect us to continue what we were doing,” the 2014 MVP admitted.
Durant’s theory is that the organization — from the front office to ownership — wasn’t prepared for how fast success arrived.
“Sam Presti was young. Everybody was young and trying to figure stuff out,” Durant bared. “Sometimes you get confused when success comes too early.”
KD: "We were ahead of our time."
pic.twitter.com/LSXcY7lubM https://t.co/CwsUHRal4v
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) July 1, 2025
The Thunder were never quite the same after moving Harden. The closest Durant and Oklahoma City would get again was in 2016, when they blew a 3-1 lead to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals.
By that summer, Durant was gone — off to join those same Warriors, where he would win back-to-back championships, earn two Finals MVPs, and make three consecutive trips to the NBA Finals.
Now, at 36 and with two rings under his belt, the 15-time All-Star finds himself in Houston — the same city Harden once joined after leaving Oklahoma City.
But this time, Durant isn’t the rising star. He’s the final piece the Rockets are hoping will push them into legitimate title contention.
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