Kevin Durant, who turns 32 today, has already established himself as one of the best NBA players of all time.
The part you didn't know?
He's on his way to joining an elite club of basketball billionaires.
Time for a thread 👇👇👇
1) Kevin Durant, from Prince George's County Maryland, outside Washington, D.C., was raised by "the Real MVP" - his mother, Wanda.
Coming from a rough neighborhood, Durant started playing basketball at a young age as an outlet.
2) By the age of 13, Kevin Durant had grown to 6 feet tall — showing early promise as a basketball player.
In High School, now 6'7", Durant established himself as one of the best players in the country.
He went on to accept a scholarship to play at Texas, where he dominated…
3) After a legendary freshmen year at Texas, which ended with a unanimous national player of the year award, Kevin Durant declared for the NBA draft.
The Seattle SuperSonics selected Kevin Durant with the second overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft.
The first pick?
Greg Oden
4) Since entering the NBA in 2007, Kevin Durant has been a cheat code — becoming one of the best players in NBA history.
- 2x NBA Champion
- 2x Finals MVP
- 2014 NBA MVP
- 6x All-NBA First Team
Now, after signing a 4-yr, $164M deal with Brooklyn, Durant faces a new challenge.
5) Off the court, Kevin Durant has been just as dominant.
Despite having no interest in "global marketing and all that stuff", Durant is expected to earn well over $500M from NBA contracts and sponsorships throughout his career.
His plan to multiply it?
Thirty Five Ventures.
6) In 2017, Kevin Durant and his manager, Rich Kleiman, co-founded Thirty Five Ventures.
The venture firm is a combined entity designed to house all their investments in sports, tech, media and culture.
Since launch, the duo has deployed millions of dollars into 40+ startups.
7) When it comes to investing his hard earned capital, Kevin Durant does his due-diligence.
During his time in San Francisco, Durant continuously picked the brain of successful entrepreneurs like Marc Andreessen & Ben Horowitz.
The result?
A 400+% return on his investments.
8) Overall, Kevin Durant's investment portfolio is extremely diverse.
Investments include:
- Robinhood
- Coinbase
- Whoop
- Acorns
- JetSmarter
- Overtime
- Philadelphia Union
When Uber acquired Postmates for $2.65B, Durant turned his $1M initial investment into $15M.
9) In addition to an impressive investment portfolio, Kevin Durant & Rich Kleiman are building "The Boardroom" — a sports-business focused media platform.
The Boardroom has launched multiple verticals, including unique written & video, as well as a podcast network.
10) The third vertical of Kevin Durant's Thirty Five Ventures, the Kevin Durant Foundation, might be his most meaningful.
Their mission is simple, level the playing field for kids "from low-income backgrounds."
This week, they revealed a new youth basketball court in Brooklyn.
11) While he continues to chase championships and build his wealth, Kevin Durant has one major goal in mind.
“I want to own and run an NBA team—run day-to-day operations and impact young players coming through the league.”
With a work ethic like his, I wouldn't count him out.
12) As of now, Michael Jordan is the only billionaire in basketball.
Will LeBron James or Magic Johnson get there? Maybe so.
But don't be surprised if Kevin Durant does also.
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