Hours after Kevin Durant crowned himself as Olympic basketball emperor, retirement rumors blew up. The Slim Reaper had a historic day in the semi-final outing against Brazil, surpassing Lisa Leslie as the all-time scoring champion of Team USA in the Olympics. Amid this merry moment, the latest commercial from Nike, involving KD, prompted retirement doubts in NFL legend Shannon Sharpe’s mind.

Notably, the billion-dollar sportswear brand had already left Durant disappointed after they snubbed him from the Olympics commercial. The superstar didn’t keep his dissent silent but put it out there for public display. He took to his IG stories and wrote, “@nike tell me, am I a bad person????? Been with y’all every step of the way,” after the brand dropped its ‘Winning isn’t for everyone’ commercial.

Following Kevin Durant’s public callout, Nike grabbed the right opportunity to console the superstar. In the event of KD’s historical game, the brand released a new commercial with the superstar. As a surprising twist, the commercial had Nike’s latest partner coach Deion Sanders’ voice-over. Notably, Sanders recently parted ways with the brand, Under Armour. Coach Prime used Durant’s decorated moniker “Reaper” in the commercial, saying, “There’s a Reaper every four years. Your time runs out. You might forget your debt but he’s ready to collect.”

Speaking of that, in the latest podcast episode of NightCap, NFL legend Shannon Sharpe dropped a speculation bomb. He said, “Would I be surprised if KD isn’t on the team in 2028? I wouldn’t be surprised at all.” Durant will turn 39 during the 2028 Olympics, which is set to take place in Los Angeles. While LeBron James, at the age of 39, still competing at the highest level, Sharpe doubted KD would replicate that.

However, Sharpe’s partner, Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, batted a bit for KD, saying, “If his body holds up, I mean, he should be able to do it.” In response to that, Unc said, “I wouldn’t be surprised at all,” again.

What does Kevin Durant say about his retirement?

Before knowing what’s on KD’s mind, let’s clear out Shannon Sharpe’s confusing co-relation. After he highlighted the release of Nike’s latest commercial, Sharpe immediately went on to say that he wasn’t sure about KD competing in 2028. Unfortunately, Essentially Sports also doesn’t have concrete evidence to back Sharpe’s comments.

On the other hand, Kevin Durant spoke about his retirement recently. Speaking to The Ringer’s Logan Murdock, Durant said, “I want to play until I can’t no more, man.” He followed it up by expressing his ambition to win rings. KD added, “ It’s not really about me. That’s how I look at championships. So I want to do this together. I’m looking forward to going on the journey with these guys.” 

Moreover, the 2x NBA Champion, who is currently in his fourth franchise, the Phoenix Suns, wants to retire with the same team. In an interview with Malika Andrews, he said, “Right now I would say yes, but that’s just a figure of speech, I can’t know what’s going to happen,” when he was asked if he would retire with the Suns.

How long do you think Kevin Durant will play professional basketball? Let us know in the comments.

Before leaving, do watch the Dual Threat Show hosted by BG12 where Bulldogs’ Asia Avinger details her experience with Kobe Bryant, her WNBA ROTY picks, and more in the video below.