Kevin Durant has many accomplishments and accolades to his name, including that of acting in a movie. However, not all was great about it.
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Becoming a movie star is a dream for nearly every child, irrespective of geographical location. The idea of being recognized by millions of people and getting to work with beautiful people is an enticing draw for everyone. But the conventional route isn’t for everyone to take.
However, once you’re famous enough in a particular line like sports, opportunities like this open up. And in the case of Kevin Durant, that was certainly true in 2011.
Durant had already won a FIBA World Championship with Team USA in 2010. By the time shooting for the movie began, he’d also led OKC to the Conference Finals. In addition, KD had 2 scoring championships to his name.
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Kevin Durant starred in a movie called Thunderstruck
Given the option to star in a movie – especially for the first time ever – it’s hard for anyone to say no. KD probably had the same mentality when he signed up to act in Thunderstruck, directed by John Whitesell.
A sports comedy movie, it sees the then-OKC Thunder star switch talents with a 16-year-old kid. This energy transfer happens when the aforementioned kid (Brian) gets an autographed basketball from Durant.
Ultimately, the movie’s plot revolves around how KD’s agent realizes this and tries to revert the process. It ended up being successful by the end as the Slim Reaper gets his talents back and is successful in leading the Thunder to the playoffs.
At face value, this plot is a bit similar to Like Mike, in which Lil Bow Wow gains MJ’s powers after wearing His Airness’ shoes. However, the execution wasn’t that great, as many could tell.
Durant swore never to act in movies after Thunderstruck flopped
This movie was released in limited theaters in August 2012, after KD’s first Finals appearance and Olympics Gold. It didn’t have much in terms of collections, only netting $587k in the first weekend.
The realization that the movie didn’t pan out as planned seemed to haunt Durant to no end. In an interview a couple of years later, Kevin Durant said Shaq’s Kazaam was a better movie than his.
Now we know you’re quite self-critical, KD, but there’s no need to be in so much self-pity! Surely Thunderstruck was a better movie than the monstrosity that Kazaam was!
