Durant often seeks out business advice from company CEOs and other leaders NBAE/GETTY IMAGES
Kevin Durant is rehabbing from the ruptured Achilles he suffered during the NBA Finals, but if basketball "isn't available" in the future, he has "discovered a true passion for business," according to J.R. Moehringer of the WSJ MAGAZINE. Durant is "already a different person" since his injury. He "seeks out founders, leaders, CEOs and applies what he learns from them to the empire he's building" with his business manager Rich Kleiman. Under 35 Ventures, Durant and Kleiman "manage Durant's lucrative endorsement deals, oversee an equity partnership with luxury audio company Master & Dynamic and create an eclectic investment portfolio tailored to their shared interests." This year, 35 Ventures "produced a documentary," launched "The Boardroom" series on ESPN+ and "began filming a scripted show called 'Swagger,' loosely based on Durant's days playing youth basketball." Durant also "expresses himself through social media," and Instagram is "one of his main portals to the world." Meanwhile, Durant addressed his time with the Thunder, saying he "eventually wanted to come back to that city and be part of that community and organization, but I don't trust nobody there." Durant: "The organization, the GM, I ain't talked to none of those people ... since I left." Durant on the NBA: "Some days I hate the circus of the NBA. Some days I hate that the players let the NBA business, the fame that comes with the business, alter their minds about the game. Sometimes I don't like being around the executives and politics that come with it" (WSJ MAGAZINE, 9/ '19 issue).
