Kevin Durant part of exclusive club featuring only three players in league history

Kevin Durant is going to return to the Phoenix Suns in 2024-25 with his eyes firmly set on bringing a first ever championship to The Valley. A summer spent with teammate Devin Booker - and massive admirer Anthony Edwards - with Team USA once again showing fans not to sleep on Durant.

At 35-years-old he remains one of the best in the business, and the prospect of him once again being a top 10 player in the league is more likely than not once the action gets back underway. His good friend Stephen Curry may have just gotten paid, and Durant could soon sign an extension to his current deal as well.

Whether or not that happens, Durant is already assured of his place in a ridiculously exclusive club.

Accolades are nothing new for Durant - about the only thing missing from his career is an agreed upon nickname - but joining Curry and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers on a tier all to themselves can be added to his resume.

That's because the three players are now the only three in the history of the league to earn over $500 million in salary for playing basketball alone, without taking into account money made off the court. A truly staggering figure, but it is hard to find three more deserving individuals and fitting that they are linked in this way.

It was Durant, Curry and James who had their own "Last Dance" style moment at the Olympics together this summer in Paris - the Games were Curry's first and last - and they'll now be riding off into the sunset together with $1.5 billion between them for all they gave to the game.

These figures include money still to be paid on current deals, but the incoming fourth member of this club might just take some of the shine away. That will be Paul George - who recently traded Los Angeles and the Clippers for the Philadelphia 76ers - although unlike the other three he has never won a championship. Scratch that, he's never even been to the NBA Finals.

Durant is sure to make even more money before he retires, and may opt to tack one more year at just shy of $60 million to his current contract, which is is currently eligible to do. That would take him through to when he is 38-years-old but either way - as long as Kevin Durant says he wants to play basketball - he is going to get paid a lot of money by somebody to do so. As it should be.