Kevin Durant Burner Saga Reportedly Was 'Significant' Rockets Distraction, Wasn't 'Truly Resolved'

As the Houston Rockets look back on what turned out to be a disappointing 2025-26 season that ended with a first-round playoff loss, one key storyline from the season that apparently never went away was the saga of Kevin Durant's alleged burner accounts on social media.

Per The Athletic's William Guillory and Sam Amick, the Durant burner saga was a "significant distraction" within the Rockets locker room that was "never truly resolved internally."

There have been rumors in the past about Durant creating alternate social media accounts and replying to comments that were critical of him. One such incident seemed to occur back in 2017 when a fan asked why he left Oklahoma City.

Durant confirmed in 2020 that he has used burner accounts in the past and would continue do so in the future.

The situation came back to the forefront in February when there were rumors of an X account that supposedly belonged to Durant and was critical of Rockets players, including Jabari Smith Jr. and Alperen Şengün.

Asked about the situation after a Feb. 18 practice, Durant simply said he was "not here to get into Twitter nonsense."

Per Guillory and Amick, it's unclear if Durant ever clarified to his teammates if the account belonged to him and Rockets players "agreed to keep the matter in-house while focusing on basketball."

Expectations were high for the Rockets coming into the season after acquiring Durant in a trade with the Phoenix Suns. He was viewed as the missing piece for the franchise because of his high-level scoring ability and how it would pair with a young roster that had a top-five defense in 2024-25.

They were dealt a blow right before the start of training camp when Fred VanVleet tore his ACL and missed the season.

The Rockets finished the season as the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference, but Durant missed five of their six games in the first round against the Los Angeles Lakers due to knee and ankle injuries.

There were also questions about Durant not being with his Rockets teammates on the bench for Game 3. Head coach Ime Udoka told reporters he was receiving treatment for his injuries "around the clock" in an attempt to work his way back.

Houston's offense without Durant in the playoffs struggled to get going. It scored fewer than 100 points four times in six games against the Lakers, including a season-low 78 in Friday's Game 6 loss.

Durant finished his first season in Houston averaging 26.0 points on 52.0 percent shooting, 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game in 78 starts.