Kevin Durant is looking to secure a WNBA team in the city where he played before being drafted into the NBA.

The basketball star played at the University of Texas at Austin in 2006 for one year. ESPN reports that during his short time there, he became the Big 12 Player of the Year and earned a Naismith Trophy, the first time in history that a freshman won the award. His talents led him to the NBA in 2007. He was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics — which no longer exist — in the first round as the second overall pick and secured a four-year rookie contract valued at $19.5 million, per Spotrac.

Durant has gone on to become one of the league’s best players and secured two championship rings with the Golden State Warriors after a decade in the league.

Now, Durant could be returning to his roots through team ownership. According to USA Today, sources involved in the process named him in a group looking to bid for a WNBA team in Austin, TX. The group also includes former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry, former University of Texas at Austin student-athlete and WNBA player Fran Harris, and entrepreneur Jenny Just.

While the WNBA has seen an increase in ratings and popularity, credited to young WNBA players such as Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark, Durant’s interest in women’s sports is not a trend. In May 2021, he participated in a $3.5 million seed round to support Just Women’s Sports, a media platform catering to women’s sports, through his venture firm, Thirty Five Ventures, a press release mentioned.

“In order to grow women’s sports, fans need to see how great the games are, and they shouldn’t have to look hard to do that,” Durant said at the time.

The following year, Durant cemented his loyalty to women’s sports even further as Thirty Five Ventures, which is co-owned by Rich Kleiman, became a minority investor in women’s soccer club Gotham FC, based in New Jersey, Forbes reports.

His current interest in the WNBA shows alignment with this loyalty and comes at a time when the league is exploring the addition of its 16th franchise, which would begin playing by 2028. According to The New York Times, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said there are “10 to 12 cities that are very viable that we’re evaluating.”

Other cities that have shown interest in a team include Charlotte, NC; Denver, CO; Detroit, MI; and Houston, TX, among others.