Across sports, and particularly in the NBA, athletes are looking for ways to exert their influence. More than ever, they’re speaking out on issues they care about, leveraging their talent to affect front-office decisions and building business empires that extend far beyond sports-drink endorsement deals.
So it makes sense than more and more star athletes also appear interested in becoming the boss. According to ESPN’s Chris Haynes, Finals MVP Kevin Durant is the latest to set his sights on an ownership role.
Durant has serious intentions of purchasing an NBA team after his playing career, league sources told ESPN. One source, who requested anonymity, says “this is a genuine goal of his after he retires, to add another African-American in the position of majority ownership.”
Michael Jordan remains the most prominent former-player owner (He’s also the only African-American principal owner in the four major American sports), but there seems to be a current of ex-stars taking on ownership roles. Magic Johnson and Derek Jeter serve as the faces of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Miami Marlins, respectively, while Steph Curry and Colin Kaepernick have both expressed interest in joining Diddy to pursue the Carolina Panthers. LeBron James has said repeatedly that he would like to own a team when he’s done playing.
Durant has invested heavily in the tech world since joining the Golden State Warriors and has, according to ESPN, reached out to numerous Silicon Valley movers and shakers to learn the industry. He seems to be joining a very long list of NBA players (Magic, MJ, LeBron, Kobe, Carmelo, etc.) who hope to be business moguls long after their playing careers.
For decades, true economic and decision-making power was unavailable to athletes, and particularly black ones, who were expected to play out their careers, make a little money and then rise no higher than middle-management in retirement. This most recent generation of players has higher ambitions than that. Not long from now, Durant and LeBron could very well be dueling not on the court but in the executive suite.
[ESPN]
