Thunder F Kevin Durant was in N.Y. on Friday for an event "to launch his next business venture: a signature underwear line in partnership with Neff and Foot Locker," according to Jarrel Harris of SI.com. California-based Neff "brands itself upon snowboarding, skating, surfing and lifestyle products." Durant joins Seahawks CB Richard Sherman "as the only athletes" on Neff’s endorsement roster. Durant "spent a good portion of his summer taking business trips to take his brand to new heights." He is coming off "a Nike basketball marketing tour in Madrid, Paris and Berlin." Durant, along with Nike, "also released the KD 8 and through his Kevin Durant Charity Foundation announced the 'Build it and They Will Ball' courts renovation initiative to increase the number of high quality basketball courts accessible to unprivileged youth around the world." Neff "falls in line with Durant’s other non-traditional brands." Besides Nike, he has "become the face of companies like Orange Leaf Yogurt, Sparking ICE and fast-food restaurant chain Sonic." Durant said, "I just felt like everything else has been tapped into too and this was a new adventure and something I just wanted to do." He added, "A brand that is authentic, has great values, knows what they believe in and (has) great people. That is simple enough for me and we can work from there." Durant: "I just feel like I can go in and help kickstart a new brand or a brand that not a lot of people know about. ... What I learned is to be true to who you are" (SI.com, 9/29).
