Kevin Durant has had a stellar 18-year NBA career — so far. As Durant prepares to enter year No. 2 as a member of the Houston Rockets, he seems to have his sights set on taking another step forward this season.
Jabari Smith Jr., one of Durant’s Rockets teammates, appears to feel the same way as the two-time NBA champion. Smith Jr. believes the 2026-27 version of the Rockets could potentially be very good. But Smith Jr. has also acknowledged that success doesn’t come without a lot of hard work.
Jabari Smith Jr. Gives Honest Opinion of Kevin Durant
This work ethic is something that Durant has always been known for throughout his career. And Smith Jr. has taken notice of that. On Friday, Smith Jr. spoke on what he’s learned from Durant during his time practicing and playing alongside the one-time NBA MVP. Smith Jr. sat down with Chiney Ogwumike for an interview on her show, “Chiney Today” on ESPN.
“It’s just gonna be full speed from the jump. You think at that age obviously you don’t wanna warm up. We get off the training table and from there it’s 100% full speed. Every rep is a game rep…it makes you do that. So I think I’ve definitely learned that from him just making every practice rep fast in the game, repping to make the game easier. Everything you hear is real, his work ethic is real, how hard he works is real…everything you hear is true,” Smith Jr. said.
Durant, 37, is one of the most prolific scorers the NBA has ever seen. He currently sits No. 5 on the all-time scoring list with 32,597 points. After being selected No. 2 overall in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Seattle Supersonics, he hit the ground running. Durant played in 80 games in his rookie season. He won the Rookie of the Year Award while averaging 20.2 points per game. And he’s averaged at least 20.0 points per game in every season of his illustrious career.
Smith Jr was drafted No. 3 overall in the 2022 NBA Draft. He also stands six-foot, eleven-inches tall, just like Durant. And his game at the NBA-level is comparable to Durant’s. The 23-year-old forward is in a great position, as he trains and learns from the future Hall of Famer on a daily basis.
Rockets Players Have High Hopes This Season
Smith Jr. went on to discuss the potential of this Rockets team this coming season. Similar to another one of his teammates, Fred VanVleet, Smith Jr. believes the world will see a much better version of the Rockets this year.
“I think you’re gonna see a team that is more used to playing with each other. We added Kevin Durant last year. See a lot better team next year for sure,” Smith Jr. said.
âI think we can win the championship next year, but thatâs internal. The lead up to the moment donât really matter. We just watched the (New York) Knicks do it, nobody really paid them any attention, and then they got there and dominated. And then it was like oh, theyâre the best team ever,â VanVleet said.
The Rockets finished No. 5 in the Western Conference standings last season. They’re hoping a healthy VanVleet, who’s recovering from a torn ACL, will help their franchise return to the promised land. The Rockets havenât appeared in an NBA Finals since 1995. They won back-to-back championships in 1994 and 1995, and have only reached the Western Conference Finals two times since.
The Rockets showed flashes of greatness last season, having at least three winning-streaks of at least five games. They also finished the season 9-1 in their last 10 games. Despite entering the playoffs playing some of the best basketball of the season, they fell to the No. 4 seed, Los Angeles Lakers in the first round in six games. The outlook on the 2026-27 NBA season though looks a lot brighter, at least according to the players.
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