Kevin Durant Called Out For Poor Body Language and “Sulking” On The Rockets By Zach Lowe

The Houston Rockets, sitting at 32–19, are nothing to sneeze at. Kevin Durant has been a huge reason they’re even in that conversation, which is wild considering this is his 19th year in the league. KD is still balling out, and he’s needed to, because aside from Sengun, he is the squad’s go-to scorer with Fred VanVleet out of action due to an injury he suffered before the season even began. That said, it hasn’t been smooth sailing for the Rockets.

They have a good record, but the expectation is for them to go further in the postseason than they did a year ago, and an up-and-down season only adds more pressure on their stars. KD has had to do a lot of heavy lifting, bailing them out during tough stretches and serving as the steady bucket when things get shaky.

It’s becoming noticeable too, at least to some analysts. Zach Lowe spoke about Houston’s rocky road on the latest edition of his YouTube program. While he still believes this Rockets team can contend, he is concerned about some of the body language he has been seeing, particularly from Durant.

“I’m not loving some of the body language on the floor. Some of the Durant sulkiness is seeping back into his body language. Like against the Thunder the other day, there were 2 or 3 possessions when the Rockets threw bad entry passes to him, and you can see him visibly throw his arms up and roll his eyes,” said Lowe.

This is classic Durant, though. He’s a competitor to the end, but he’s not going to lose sleep over playing at an elite level without enough help from his teammates. Because when the moment gets big, you know KD will show up.

But the elephant in the room is that the Rockets don’t really have someone else to lean on in those moments, so they need KD to be sharp. And according to Lowe, his history of showing signs of frustration or fatigue can have an effect on his team.

“I’ve heard from agents, players, whatever over the years, when he gets like that, young players revere him and are somewhat intimidated by him, and that kind of stuff can seep into the ether of the team. They need to just snap out of it, because they are really good.”

All of this puts Houston at a bit of a crossroads as the playoffs inch closer. They’re talented enough to scare anyone, but title teams usually have emotional steadiness and multiple closers, not just one legend carrying both the vibe and the scoring load. The encouraging part is that this core is still young and learning what real contention feels like, and those bumps are part of the process.

If the Rocketscan tighten their chemistry and take some of the late-game burden off Durant, they won’t just be a nice story. They’ll be a real problem. And if they don’t, the season might be remembered as the year KD kept them afloat rather than the year they truly arrived.

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