The Houston Rockets are 1-2 to begin the 2025-26 NBA season, yet they have a +7.7 point differential.
That’s because the two losses were very close (by a combined five points, and one of those in double overtime), while the victory was a 28-point blowout. The two losses were to a pair of playoff teams (Oklahoma City Thunder and Detroit Pistons) from last season, and the former is the defending league champion.
So, the totality of Houston’s resume suggests that the team’s winning percentage will improve in the near future. Yet, to meet their championship expectations, they do need to eventually win some of those close games versus good opponents.
Albeit in a small sample size, one frequent talking point among fans and media is Kevin Durant’s usage rate in clutch situations. Though he remains an All-Star and one of the best scorers in league history, the 37-year-old actually ranks fourth in the team’s clutch usage rate over the first week of the regular season.
Houston’s current list is as follows, per NBA.com data:
On Tuesday’s The Pivot Podcast episode, hosted by Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder, and Fred Taylor, Durant was asked about occasionally taking a back seat down the stretch to young players who aren’t nearly as proven.
Durant’s response made it clear that he views those situations as valuable learning experiences for a team that is still relatively young. When asked about working within the team ecosystem and whether that occasionally suppresses his personal talent, Durant said:
I never liked dictators. I always felt like it was better to empower everybody around you… to reach for the best version of themselves.
In the process of them doing that, it’s going to be some bumpy roads along the way. And there’s going to come a time when I have to dictate. ‘Alright, you sit in the corner or you come up, set the screen, and let me get the ball.’ There are going to be times where I’ll have to do that.
But we’re all figuring it out. Coming to this team and knowing it’s a young team, guys are still figuring out their games and their roles and establishing themselves in the league. I’m still striking a balance of ‘Alright, we need to let everybody grow and figure out their roles’ and still at the same time, we’ve got to have a structure… that we can fall back on.
I think that’s a part of any team that just got together, it’s understanding what we’re going to bring to the table. When to pass and shoot, when to be aggressive, when to make the play, when to space out. We’ll figure out all of the nuances as we continue to play with each other. That journey through a season and how you get to reaching your potential, that’s what is the most fun to me.
To Durant’s point, the other four players on Houston’s top usage list (in clutch situations) are all 23 years old or younger. So, those trial-by-fire situations — even if the result ends poorly, at times — could be valuable as the Rockets attempt to collectively develop into a contender by the time the 2026 NBA playoffs begin in April.
The complete podcast episode can be viewed below.
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: ‘I never liked dictators’: In key situations, Kevin Durant wants Rockets to learn by doing
Reporting by Ben DuBose, Rockets Wire / Rockets Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
