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FORBES ASIA MARCH 2020The sleek apartment overlook-
ing Manhattan’s High Line park frames the owner of this
mansion in the sky, the NBA superstar Kevin Durant, who
is so trim he looks even taller than 208 centimeters. Set-
tling into a blue velvet couch, Durant can toggle between
the stunning skyline and his trophy-stacked office, for
MVP, All-Star and other superlatives. (His two NBA cham-
pionship rings, won with the Golden State Warriors, are in
the bedroom.)
But Durant’s focus is on present challenges rather than
past wins. Across from his trophy room sit a Pilates ma-
chine and a cagelike strength and balance trainer called a
Sensopro, here to assist a career-saving comeback as he re-
habs the Achilles tendon he ruptured during June’s NBA
Finals. That season was done—the current one too. “What’s
most important is to take care of my body so I can put my
product back on the court,” Durant says, fresh from a work-
out. “How well you play on the court determines how big
your business is going to grow.”
That business starts with a $164 million contract he
signed with the Brooklyn Nets this summer and a ten-year,
$275 million Nike shoe deal that assumes his continued su-
perstardom. With those two alone, he will earn more than
$70 million this season without suiting up for a single game.T
Kevin Durant’s Hardest
Three-Point Play
ENTREPRENEURS
By Steven Bertoni Photograph by Jamel Toppin for ForbesThe NBA superstar has three goals: a return to dominance, a defining championship
and a lasting business empire.Durant’s goal is to turn that income into assets at a scale few
athletes not named Jordan or Lebron have attempted.
Brooklyn is Durant’s fourth career stop. He was original-
ly drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics, which soon moved
the franchise to Oklahoma City, where he became a super-
star playing for the Thunder. In the Bay Area, when he de-
camped to the Golden State Warriors, he became a cham-
pion and an entrepreneur.
In choosing Brooklyn, he seeks to redefine himself. Can
the superstar come back from a devastating injury to dom-
inate the league again? Can he win a championship with a
team centered on him? And can he translate his Silicon Val-
ley lessons to the world capital of capital as well as of me-
dia and fashion. “Walking around New York,” Durant says,
“there is so much greatness, hard work and determination.”
Durant’s business vehicle: Thirty Five Ventures, co-
founded with his manager, Rich Kleiman, a music indus-
try veteran who previously helped start the sports division
of Jay-Z’s talent agency, Roc Nation. Thirty Five Ventures
has 15 staff running Durant’s endorsements, foundation,
and expanding collection of startups and media plays. Over
the past few years he’s plowed more than $15 million into
40-plus startups. Nearly 70% of the companies have raised
subsequent rounds at higher valuations, scoring what Du-
rant claims are paper gains topping 400%.
More directly, Thirty Five Ventures has a production
arm creating basketball-themed documentaries, series and
scripted shows for outlets like Apple, YouTube and ESPN.
“LeBron James was the first case study that you can build a
real business while you’re playing,” says Kleiman. “Kevin is
building a real and authentic company.”
For Durant, a 30 Under 30 alum who recently hit the
grand old age of 31, the goal is nothing short of a ten-digit
net worth. By the time his playing career is over, he’ll have
made well over $500 million from salary and sponsorships.
Now, Durant says, “I want to use the checks I get from com-
panies to create true generational wealth.”