Joe Pompliano Profile picture
Sep 30, 2020 15 tweets 5 min read Read on X
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. Image
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… Image
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 Image
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. Image
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. Image
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. Image
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. Image
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. Image
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. Image
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.
If you enjoyed this thread, you should:

1. Follow me, I tweet cool sports stories everyday.

2. Subscribe to my free daily newsletter where I give detailed analysis on topics involving the money and business behind sports.

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More from @JoePompliano

Mar 1
The 2024 Formula 1 calendar is insane:

• 24 races
• 21 countries
• 5 continents
• 180+ hours of flights

Teams will travel 75,000 miles & transport 1,500 tons of equipment.

This makes it a logistical nightmare, so here's a breakdown of how Formula 1 pulls it off.

THREAD 👇
1) The simplest way to explain Formula 1 logistics is by breaking the calendar into two parts:

• European Races
• Flyaway Races

Let's start with European Races.
2) European races are self-explanatory — these are races that take place in Europe.

Examples:
• Monaco
• Monza
• Zandvoort
• Silverstone
• Spa

These races are easier and cheaper logistically because everything is transported by trucks rather than planes and boats. Image
Read 16 tweets
Feb 7
Apple Music pays the NFL $50 million annually to sponsor the Super Bowl halftime show.

But Usher won't get any of that money.

Instead, he'll perform for free, leveraging the exposure to gain followers, sell tickets, and increase streaming numbers.

Here's how it works 👇 Image
1) Some of the world's most famous artists have performed at the Super Bowl:

• Prince
• Michael Jackson
• Bruce Springsteen
• Beyonce
• Justin Timberlake
• The Rolling Stones
• Rihanna

But NONE of these artists were paid. Image
2) Here's how the financials work:

• NFL signs a $50M sponsorship deal
• Artists get a ~$15 million production budget

This budget covers 2,000 to 3,000 part-time workers, including set design, security, dancers, and marketing.

But artists don't get any of the money.
Read 11 tweets
Jan 27
My favorite sports business story involves two brothers turning $1 million into $800 million as basketball team owners without ever owning an NBA team.

It's a masterclass in leverage, long-term thinking, and the power of equity and ownership.

Here's the crazy story 👇 Image
1) The story starts with Ozzie & Daniel Silna.

The two brothers were born in New Jersey after their parents immigrated from Latvia in the 1930s.

They worked at their dad's small textile business, but when he sold the company, they started manufacturing polyester in the 1960s.
2) As polyester sales skyrocketed throughout the 1960s, Ozzie & Daniel Silna's business grew.

So they used $1 million in profit to buy the ABA’s failing Carolina Cougars in 1974.

They then moved the team to Saint Louis and rebranded as the Saint Louis Spirits. Image
Read 12 tweets
Jun 13, 2023
I asked my audience: "What is the best sports book you've ever read?" — and received more than 1,000 responses.

Here are the Top 10 👇

1) Open, an autobiography by Andre Agassi.

Everyone needs to read this, seriously. Image
2) Moneyball by Michael Lewis

This book follows the Oakland A's historic 2002 season — 103 wins with one of the lowest budgets in MLB —and details how the Athletics pioneered the use of analytics and advanced statistics.

This is a must-read, plain & simple. Image
3) The Score Takes Care Of Itself

This book breaks down the leadership lessons Bill Walsh installed as head coach of the 49ers, taking the team from a 2-14 record to Super Bowl Champions in just 2 years.

It's full of great stories.

And it's so good that I've read it 3-4 times. Image
Read 12 tweets
May 31, 2023
Conor McGregor in 2007:

• Working as a plumber
• Living with his parents
• Thousands of dollars in debt
• Cashing $235 welfare checks

But now, @TheNotoriousMMA has made over $600 million and is one of the world's highest-paid athletes.

This is his WILD story 👇 Image
1) McGregor's story reads like a Hollywood script.

He was a 12-year-old boy growing up in Crumlin, Ireland, who started taking boxing classes after being bullied by kids at school.

"Things like this happened a few times, so I thought, f**k this. I am going to go and train." ImageImage
2) McGregor started training at the Crumlin Boxing Club.

But then he discovered MMA at 16 and fully committed his life to the sport.

McGregor would watch delayed recordings of UFC fights and then practice the moves in his backyard.

But there was a problem. Image
Read 14 tweets
Apr 27, 2023
The NFL Draft is a MASSIVE event:

• $3 million construction cost
• $100 million economic impact
• 10 million viewers and 300,000 fans

But it wasn't always this big.

ESPN *made* it this big.

Here's the fascinating story 👇 Image
1) The NFL didn't have a draft for its first 14 years.

But Eagles owner Bert Bell got tired of losing — the best college players signed with the best teams — and pitched an idea to level the playing field.

And the NFL draft was born.

However, it looked different back then. Image
2) The first NFL Draft was held in 1936 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia.

• Draft picks written on a chalkboard
• Only 81 players selected (262 today)

Even crazier?

That year's #1 pick, Heisman winner Jay Berwanger, turned down the NFL to become a salesman instead. Image
Read 11 tweets

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