Kevin Durant Is Showing Everyone How Business-Savvy Athletes Can Fuel Innovation

With ventures spanning tech and media, the NBA All-Star captain and entrepreneur is a competitor beyond basketball

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Kevin Durant narrowly missed being a Portland Trail Blazer in 2007, when the team selected Greg Oden just ahead of him as the top pick in the NBA Draft.

Fifteen years later, Durant is a different kind of trailblazer: one of the top athletes in the world, to be sure, but also an entrepreneur and investor on the rise.

In 2016, Durant, who now plays for the Brooklyn Nets, and his manager, Rich Kleiman, started Thirty Five Ventures, an investment firm focused on media, tech and entertainment.

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This story first appeared in the Feb. 21, 2022, issue of Adweek magazine. Click here to subscribe.