Kevin Durant Says He Can See Himself Retiring at Age 35: 'Number in My Mind'

Kevin Durant, fresh off of winning his second straight championship with the Golden State Warriors, said Monday he could see himself retiring at the age of 35.  

"This game, your craft, you have to continue studying it," Durant told Chris Haynes of ESPN.com. "No matter how much you enjoy it, nobody wants to be in school that long. I know I don't. At some point, you have to be ready to graduate. Thirty-five, that's just a number in my mind."

Durant, 29, will turn 30 in September. If he signs a long-term contract with the Warriors in July, it could wind up being his final NBA deal, as Haynes noted. 

Durant could be in line to break a number of NBA records depending on how long he prolongs his career. He currently sits at 20,913 points, 36th in league history. To reach Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 career points), he may need to play for another decade.

However, he isn't worried about such records.

"Everything else, the numbers, the accolades, that stuff will fall in line organically," he told Haynes. "So I'm not trying to go out there and force anything. I'm just trying to play the right brand of ball the best I can do it and see what happens."

As for when it's time to call it quits, Durant believes he'll be ready to move on to the next chapter in his life and will be happy with his place in the history of the game.

"No matter how many points I score, no matter how many people I pass up, no matter how many points I leave on the table, my legacy, as we always like to talk about, I can go up and ask any person who has ever seen me play and they'll have a different way of viewing my game," he told Haynes. "So it's hard for me to go out there and play for that type of stuff because it changes through so many people."

When Durant retires, his resume will be impressive. It already includes an MVP, two titles, two NBA Finals MVP awards, four scoring titles, nine All-Star Game appearances and six first-team All-NBA selections.

And he's hardly slowing down.

Durant averaged 26.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.8 blocks this season, pairing with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green to form the NBA's newest dynasty. The Warriors have now won three of the past four NBA titles, and they'll be one of the favorites—if not the favorites, depending on how the offseason unfolds—once again next year.