Kevin Durant was an established superstar during his tenure as a Texas Longhorn. As expected, the Slim Reaper was a top pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, getting selected right behind Greg Oden. The Seattle SuperSonics picked KD with their 2nd pick and awarded the youngster with a lucrative $19,5050,783, four-year rookie contract. Growing up in poverty, Durant had never seen so much money. When he did receive more money than he needed, the rookie splurged on some “stupid stuff”. During an appearance on The Players’ Tribune’s Knuckleheads podcast, the Durantula disclosed how he spent $1000 on virtual coins for his Xbox (priced at $300 in 2007).
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A majority of the rookies go crazy after receiving their first paychecks. As they grow older they understand the importance of investing money. However, as youngsters, they often waste quite a bit of their money on things they don’t actually need. Shaquille O’Neal is a successful businessman worth almost $400 million. But, during his younger days, ‘the Big Aristotle’ blew through a whopping $1 million in just 1 day. Whereas, to his credit, Kevin Durant simply spent a few thousand dollars on electronics.
Kevin Durant purchased $ 1,000 worth of VC from his rookie money
Kevin Durant earned $4,171,200 in earnings during his rookie season. In a four-year-old podcast appearance, KD once revealed that he wasted a huge amount of money purchasing stupid stuff. Apart from buying as many as six Xboxes and eight TVs, the Forward decided to spend $1000 on Virtual Coins for NBA 2K. As soon as Quentin Richardson asked him to reveal the first purchase he made with his rookie contract, KD had a grin on his face, almost cringing recollecting the incident from 16 years ago.
“Man, it’s not like one thing. It’s just like you spend it on stupid stuff. Like I’m buying five or six Xboxes for no reason. Buying like seven, or eight TVs. I’m buying like coins for my Xbox. I’m spending like $1000 to get VC on my Xbox. I’m like just doing wild shit. And doing a bunch of electronics. Just stupid stuff, you’re buying for no reason,” Durant said.
KD did make up for his immature purchases with quite a sensational rookie campaign. Being the best player on his supersonics side, the teenager averaged 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game. Shooting 47% from the field and 87.3% from the free throw line, Durant was even awarded the Rookie of the Year honors.
KD is one of the wealthiest active NBA players
KD might have immaturely splurged as a rookie. However, he certainly has come a long way since then. Apart from earning $350 million in contract earnings in the last 16 years, the two-time NBA Champ has made some great financial decisions.
The 6-foot-10 icon signed a lifetime deal with Nike and has other endorsements from Beats, NBA 2K, Gatorade, Sprint, Google, and more high-profile brands. Durant is also actively searching for different ventures to invest his money in. Recently, the co-founder of Boardroom, a sports media network, invested in the National Cycling League.
