“I Bought a Building”: Kevin Durant is Determined to Help Neighborhood Develop

The careers of NBA athletes are limited, but their legacies live on forever. Suns star Kevin Durant will be remembered not only for his actions on the basketball court but for his generous humanitarian efforts off-court as well. Durant understands that basketball is only temporary. Using the platform he has created, he aspires to make an impact on those less fortunate. He began at the place it all started, his childhood neighborhood.

Durant made a guest appearance on Tony Allen and Zach Randolph’s Out The Mud Podcast. During their discussion, the two-time NBA champion opened up about the Durant Family Foundation. Durant hopes to uplift the lives of youth from low-income backgrounds across the world. He began by making a difference in the neighborhood he grew up in. He said,

“It started where I grew up at. I bought a building right across the street from the apartment complexes I grew up in. It’s like an after-school program. So I grew up here in the apartment complex, my middle school was right next door and then the high school was right next door so all of those kids that’s living in that area going to that school, they go right across the street to my after school program.”

Durant grew up in Prince George’s County in Maryland. In 2019, the 14-time All-Star opened the Durant Center, the facility where after-school programs for youth take place. Some of the programs include entrepreneurial leadership, STEM and workforce development programs.

Durant hopes to eventually expand this venture into a pillar within multiple communities across the United States. Though, if it isn’t able to grow to more, he’s content with solely making a change in the lives of the youth in his childhood hometown and is determined to make it an ecosystem within that community.

Other charitable Durant ventures

Before the genesis of the Durant Family Foundation, KD facilitated a different venture by the name of the Kevin Durant Charity Foundation. During his tenure with the Thunder, he strived to make an impact in the lives of youth in the Oklahoma City area.

Durant grew passionate about supporting Positive Tomorrows, which is an elementary school for homeless children. In 2016, he donated $57,000 to the organization, despite no longer playing for the Thunder. The donation drastically helped the school, as it used the funds to expand and house more children.

The negative narratives surrounding Durant as a basketball player do not reflect who he is as a person. He has a heart to make change, and he will continue to do so even after his NBA career is over.