Easy Money: How Kevin Durant is dominating the business world

This article was originally published on BasketballNews onMay 9, 2021.

The player-empowerment era in the NBA has allowed athletes to doso much more than just change teams when they feel it’s time tomove on from a situation. It has also led to athletes having moreopportunities and control off the court as well.

One of the best examples (in both areas) is KevinDurant.

While LeBron James may be credited with starting theplayer-empowerment era with his move to Miami back in the summer of2010, Durant put an exclamation point on it when he left OklahomaCity for the Bay Area and joined the Golden State Warriors in thesummer of 2016. Durant has also followed suit on the business sideof things. While James’ business ventures may be more well-known todate, Durant isn’t far behind in that regard.

Durant’s most notable endorsement deal is with Nike, with whomhe reportedly signed a 10-year contract worth up to $300 million back in2014. He also has endorsement deals with Google and AlaskaAirlines, but things certainly don’t stop there for Durant. Infact, you could argue that his endorsements aren’t moving theneedle much in comparison to his other businessendeavors.

Durant and his business partner, Rich Kleiman, own a venturecapital firm named Thirty Five Ventures, and that’s where Duranthas done incredibly well from the business standpoint.

Thirty Five Ventures has its hands in many different businesses,some of which you may use on a regular basis. Durant and Kleimanhave invested in Lime Scooters, The Players’ Tribune, Robinhood,Postmates, and most recently, Coinbase. According to its website,Thirty Five Ventures has an investment portfolio spanning over 60different companies.

Coinbase recently made waves as the company went public, andmade Durant and Kleiman’s investment worth over 53-times what theyoriginally put into the company back in 2017. Another one of theirvictories on the same front came via a $1 million investment inPostmates prior to its sale to Uber back in 2020.

“I know I’m just a basketball player, so I was smart enough tohire people who are really good in that field,” Durant told our Alex Kennedy (viaHoopsHype) in 2018. “I can’t take all of the credit for that. Ihave such a great team of people around me who have pushed me toexplore that field and learn more about it because, like I said,I’m just a basketball player. That’s what I do and I usually don’twant to do anything else. I’m happy when I’m playing basketball.But I have to give a ton of credit to the people who forced me tothink outside of the box a bit because it’s changed my life andmade my life more interesting. It’s not for every basketball playerand it doesn’t always turn out this way, but for me, it was anatural progression and things really worked out.”

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But Thirty Five Ventures isn’t just about investing in thingslike the aforementioned Coinbase and Postmates; it’s also a companythat creates and produces content -- and award-winning content, atthat. Durant isn’t the first star athlete to enter this space, butit’s something he and Kleiman have done incredibly well and it’spaid off.

“All of the amazing athletes who succeeded in business –fromMagic JohnsontoMichael Jordanto LeBronJames – brought something different to the table and they continuedto evolve and learn from those before them,” Kleiman told HoopsHype back in 2018. “LeBronlaid out such a great blueprint: He looked at brand dealsdifferently, he valued quality over quantity and he realized thatathletes of this caliber are global brands so they should haveequity in these businesses. Kevin learned so much from LeBron. Now,Kevin is building his own business in his way, and he will evolve,bring something new to the table and inspire the people afterhim.”

Durant and Kleiman have been able to learn from James in someaspects, as James has a production company ofhis own and regularly helps out with content, not to mentionstarring in the upcoming “Space Jam 2.” As for Durant and Kleiman,the pair recently won an Academy Award for their work on the shortfilm “Two Distant Strangers” in the ‘Best Live Action Short’category. Thirty Five Ventures also sold a show to Apple TV pluscalled "Swagger,” which is a drama series that’s based on Durant'syouth basketball experience.

Beyond that, Durant and Kleiman have created “Boardroom,” whichis somewhat similar to LeBron’s “The Shop” on HBO, but it focusesmore on the business side of things. The show has featured thelikes of Malcolm Jenkins, David Shaw, Justin Tuck, BrandonMarshall, Nick DePaula and many others. They talk about everythingfrom how coaches game plan, to how sneaker deals work, to howathletes are able to build their own brands and more. This might bewhere Durant’s future in business looks the brightest, at least interms of creativity. Recently, Durant and Kleiman have alsoexpanded the Boardroom brand by creating new shows, launching theirwebsite and collaborating with Sports Business Journal on a printproduct.

Another thing Durant and Kleiman have been involved with isOvertime, a media outlet with a huge social media presence. The twohave been backing the company for several years, and reportedlyinvested over $10 million. They’ve also created content forOvertime and have been helping behind the scenes as well. Now, thecompany is launching Overtime Elite, which will serve asan alternative to high school for elite basketball prospects withNBA futures.

When it comes to Durant’s business endeavors, he’s taken abehind-the-scenes approach to certain companies and a hands-onapproach with others. While his basketball career continues to beone of the best out there, his post-NBA career is shaping up to bejust as fascinating.