New York (AFP) – NBA superstar Kevin Durant has agreed to a two-year contract extension worth $90 million with the Houston Rockets, according to multiple reports on Sunday. The 37-year-old American forward, a two-time NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors, will own the NBA record for highest career earnings at $598.2 million, overtaking LeBron James’s $583.9 million.
Durant joined his fifth NBA club when the Phoenix Suns traded him to Houston last July as part of a seven-team deal, the largest in league history. Durant, the 2014 NBA Most Valuable Player, has helped spark the United States to four Olympic gold medals.
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Last season, the Suns lost six of their last seven games with Durant out due to an ankle injury and missed the playoffs. They were 3-17 when he was out of the lineup. Durant averaged 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.2 blocked shots a game last season, his 17th in the NBA.
Durant was eligible for a maximum $120 million extension on his contract but accepted when he agreed to join the Rockets he would take less to help Houston add talent around him in hopes of making a run at the NBA title, Durant agent Rich Kleiman told ESPN. With earnings of $54.7 million for the NBA campaign that begins on Tuesday, Durant would stand to make $144.7 million over the remaining three years after signing the new deal.
The 15-time NBA All-Star forward joins a Houston club that has re-signed coach Ime Udoka, agreed to new deals with guard Fred VanVleet, who is out with a knee injury, and New Zealand center Steven Adams, and signed free agents Clint Capela and Dorian Finney-Smith. The Rockets also boast Turkish All-Star center Alperen Sengun. The Rockets will open the season on Tuesday at defending champion Oklahoma City.
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