This week’s Eastern Conference Player of the Week, Kevin Durant, has high aspirations on and off the court. After solidifying himself as one of the best players to ever touch a basketball, he now has his sights set on owning an NBA team one day. Durant’s manager and co-founder of Thirty Five Ventures, Rich Kleiman, revealed this information in an interview with the Insider.
“Kevin clearly will have many opportunities to be associated with NBA teams and organizations, staying around the game his whole life,” said Kleiman. “I hope I do as well. And I hope that the business we’re building puts us in a position one day to be able to have an opportunity to buy into an NBA team – I think that at whatever level we were able to do it, being hands-on with an organization is also what’s really appealing. I’d love to be able to operate as a CEO of an NBA organization, and I’m sure Kevin would love to be able to have a hand in building, from a player and operational standpoint, being able to build a roster. But I think that that’s everyone’s dream right now in some capacity in our world.”
Kleiman notably mentioned Dwayne Wade, a part owner of the Utah Jazz, as someone to use as a blueprint for owning an NBA team in the near future with the Nets star.
“I think if LeBron is able to get into Vegas and then you see D-Wade in Utah, I think that only probably opens up the runway even more so for Kevin having an opportunity to do that,” said Kleiman.
If this can become a reality in the future, there’s no doubt Durant and Kleiman will be ready with the experience they are getting now as part owners elsewhere. The duo currently holds stakes with the Philadelphia Union, a Major League Pickleball team, and NJ/NY Gotham FC.
