Less than two years from now, when Kevin Durant is a free agent and he’s spouting off party lines about money not mattering, believe him.
Because money won’t matter. Or at least it shouldn’t. Not after he leaves Nike for a fatter than fat shoe deal with Under Armour.
Per InsideMDSports’ Jeff Ermann:
Sounds like Kevin Durant to Under Armour is close to done. Would be the seminal moment in UA's basketball climb.
— Jeff Ermann (@Jeff_Ermann) August 6, 2014
He’s kidding, right?
No. Not according to Basketball Insiders’ Yannis Koutroupis:
Source confirms $320+ million offer from Under Armor to Kevin Durant. Offer includes equity in the company. Nike thinks they've lost him.
— Yannis Koutroupis (@YannisNBA) August 7, 2014
Damn. This is admittedly incredible. You don’t see NBA players of Durant’s stature jumping ship on shoe deals. It just doesn’t happen usually. But if $320-plus million is the offer, how could he not take this leap of faith? He can’t not jump, in a sense.
For starters, Durant and Under Armour have something in common:
Under Armour also has Maryland roots like Kevin Durant.
— Yannis Koutroupis (@YannisNBA) August 7, 2014
Under Armour has also had a big year as it attempts break further into the NBA business:
RT @WSMG_Austin Steph Curry. Notre Dame. Kevin Durant. And you re-signed Kent Bazemore. Not a bad past 12 months by Under Armour #movingup
— Diamond Leung (@diamond83) August 7, 2014
Mostly, though, there’s the money. Lots and lots and lots and lots of money.
Signing this purported deal is the equivalent of, like, two max contracts. Durant can wear suits made out of money. He can wipe his ass with two-ply hundy sticks (as in two hundy sticks, for the toil-paper-genre-challenged peeps). He can blow his nose with hundy sticks. He could probably buy a small country. Bill gates and Durant can now shop at the same stores. KD can appear on Shark Tank and be just as spendthrift as Mark Cuban. He can own—though, not legally—a controlling interest in the Oklahoma City Thunder, then demand they finally amnesty or trade Kendrick Perkins.
He can just do whatever he wants. Sky’s not even the limit with that kind of money. That’s how much he’s about to make.
But in the interest of quelling future hot takes, let us acknowledge what this isn’t:
This is not Durant proving he’s a flight risk in all aspects of the business just because he may leave Nike; this does not mean the Thunder should be more worried than they already are about his far-off free agency.
This, ladies and gentlemen, would be a smart business move. If Under Armour’s offer is truly trumping Nike’s, then Durant should seize the cash. He, along with Stephen Curry, can help build their basketball brand from the ground up, so to speak.
Now that’s an opportunity.
One that’s going to pay Durant very, very, very, very well, while also ensuring that he and LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, are no longer shoe-deal buddies.
[Insert Kobe death stare here]
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
