Kevin Durant explains why he doesn’t want to get married: ‘No expectations is a little better for me’

The NBA superstar opens up about relationships, saying he prefers freedom over the pressure that comes with traditional expectations.

Kevin Durant may be three years shy of 40 and contemplating life after basketball, but that doesn’t mean he’s ready to settle down.

The 37-year-old NBA star opened up about his views on relationships, commitment, and his personal life during a recent appearance on Bobbi Althoff’s “Not This Again” podcast — and made it clear that walking down the aisle isn’t on his immediate to-do list.

His first reason? The odds.

“That’s not good odds,” he said, referring to the roughly 50% divorce rate in the U.S.

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Beyond that, the Houston Rockets player admitted he’s hesitant about the day-to-day dynamic of marriage itself. 

“It’s just the word ‘marriage’ that I get, but it’s more so like what that relationship is like,” he explained. “Do I want to be with this somebody every day? Hang with the same person every day?”

Still, he confessed he’s come close before. When Althoff asked if he’d ever nearly tied the knot, Durant replied, “I thought I was close.”

In 2013, the NBA forward was engaged to WNBA star Monica Wright before the two called it off a year later. Since then, he’s mostly kept his romantic life under wraps while focusing on his career, philanthropy, and business ventures. 

On the podcast, Durant revealed that he had once lived with a partner, but said the relationship ended amicably. 

“Naturally, we just needed to go our separate ways for a second and figure ourselves out and remain friends and still kick it,” he said, adding, “But living together—that’s a big commitment. Like, really combining your life with somebody on the day-to-day is crazy.”

Even so, he isn’t completely closed off to love.

“I’m open-minded,” Durant told Althoff. “I’m sure that may happen. I’m not closing the door on nothing — but I’m not expecting it. That’s all I’m saying.”

When asked what kind of partner he’s looking for, his answer was simple. 

“Oh, just somebody I can hang out with every day that I can talk to that’s cool. You know, the basics. Somebody I could really be friends with, and not look at it as if, like, ‘You’re my girlfriend,’ ‘I’m your boyfriend.’ Like that expectation, that title, that cloud that comes with that instead of like, just us being natural friends,” he said. “I’d rather that.”

But ultimately he said, “No expectations is a little better for me, ‘cause sometimes I might not want to talk to you or see you.”