Kevin Durant Says Some Of His Closest Friends Are 9-To-5 Workers He Met Through Video Games

Houston Rockets superstar Kevin Durant has been an avid gamer for years, and it turns out that hobby has led to him making some pretty special friends. During an episode of Boardroom Talks, Speedy Morman asked Durant whether he has made friends over video games and whether they know that it’s actually him they’re playing with.

“Yes, they hung out with me in my house,” Durant said. “They’d been friends with me for damn near 10 years now… One of my best friends I met on the game… And it’s like I trust this dude with anything. Like seriously. We hung out plenty of times. So, I’m like, ‘Let me see what this dude really about.'”

With Durant regularly speaking to this person and his group of gamers during these sessions, he decided he had to meet them in person. When he did, he realized they were great people, and they are his friends to this day. While Durant is, of course, this big superstar, some of his friends have just regular day jobs.

“We got 9-to-5s,” Durant said. “… And I’m like, ‘How y’all got so much time to play the game with me?’ My job is from 9 to 11 in the summer. I go to work, and I don’t have to do that. I just go do that ’cause I love to do it. And I’m like, ‘How y’all got so much time to play the game?’ I’m just like, man, this my safe haven for real. This is what I do to decompress.

“It’s 10 of us in a party,” Durant continued. “We competitively playing the game. We communicating, trying to win. It’s like when you think about it, it’s good for the soul when you know after a long day at work when you come home with your homies and just vibe without having to go out and have a drink or make a big production out of it.

“So I definitely made some friends,” Durant added. “Then I got 14-year-old little homies that I’ve been kicking it with. They’ll come to a EYBL game, and I meet them there. It’s a real community on there.”

Durant said he has consistently played with about 50 people over the last six years. Many of them didn’t realize at first that they were playing with him, but eventually put the pieces together. You can only imagine how shocked they’d be upon finding out.

With Durant’s love for gaming, it’s hardly surprising that he complains about his NBA 2K ratings almost every year. Most recently, the 37-year-old was mad about his mid-range shooting rating in NBA 2K27.

Durant has a 93 overall rating in the game, and you’d think he wouldn’t be too pleased about that either. The 16-time All-Star averaged 26.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game for the Rockets in 2025-26. He made the All-NBA Second Team and is still a force on the court despite his age.

While Durant continues to shine on the court, the end of his career isn’t too far away. He hasn’t planned everything he’s going to do post-retirement, but did share one of his main goals. Durant wants to become the managing director of the USA Basketball Men’s National Team. He’s likely going to be involved in the game one way or the other.