On Monday, Kevin Durant celebrated his 37th birthday, commemorating the occasion with a post on Instagram containing 15 pictures.
Of those 15 images, only two were basketball-related.
One showed Durant and his Houston Rockets teammates during Monday’s media day. The other showed Durant and former teammate Russell Westbrook presenting Kobe Bryant with a gift before the Hall of Famer’s final road game in Oklahoma City back in 2016.
The photo caught the attention of fans, fueling theories that the Rockets may look to sign the former MVP in the wake of Fred VanVleet’s injury.
In response, @yesicanshooot wrote: “Bro please make it happen.”
@nguyxnhieu added: “Need them back together desperately.”
One Westbrook fan account shared a gif of Vince Carter celebrating his jersey retirement in response to the photo.
Plenty of others like @notthesameeeeee wondered whether an announcement was on the way: “Soon?”
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Others, however, aren’t buying the chatter about the two former teammates reuniting in Houston.
@loueatsTrey5 wrote: “This is NOT happening bro.”
Another fan, @EthicalBuckets35 shared a picture of former Thunder teammates Durant, Westbrook and Steven Adams in Rockets jerseys, writing: “I don’t know how much more crystal clear I can be that this is NOT happening lil bro.”
Rockets coach Ime Udoka made no mention of the team signing a point guard in free agency during his media day appearance on Monday, instead noting that the team will collectively pick up facilitating duties on offense in VanVleet’s absence.
In addition, he pointed to Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard as two players who will have expanded roles when it comes to playmaking.
