NBA prima Kevin Durant has revealed wherefore he's investing his ain wealth into increasing women's sport.
Speaking upon the merchandise of NBA 2K22, which features Durant sharing the iconic video crippled screen of the NBA 75th Anniversary Special Edition alongside chap legends Dirk Nowitzki and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Brooklyn Nets guardant spoke passionately astir 'Just Women's Sports', an inaugural he's driving connected his ain dime done his institution Thirty Five Ventures (35V).
"The attraction astir women's sports decidedly needs to grow, successful my opinion, and I deliberation 'Just Women's Sports' person done a large occupation of telling unsocial stories specifically to these athletes astir antithetic sports," Durant told Wide World of Sports.
"To beryllium aligned with that I thought it was cleanable for america and we look guardant to helping them turn and helping proceed to propulsion that connection that, you know, we should ticker women's sports adjacent much than they are."
Earlier this year, it was announced media start-up 'Just Women's Sports' had raised $4.68 cardinal successful funding, with Thirty Five Ventures having a important information of that investment.
As 1 of basketball's highest paid players done declaration and sponsorship earnings, Durant has been capable to actively prosecute off-court interests done his company, investing successful everything from movie accumulation - which won him an Academy Award for a abbreviated movie helium produced - to NFT virtual show technology, to stadium construction, to healthcare money Lively, which has implicit fractional a cardinal successful assets.
Durant and his long-time manager, Rich Kleiman, said successful an interrogation successful March they planned to beryllium much than conscionable investors for 'Just Women's Sports', and really privation to usage the two-time NBA champion's elite web of sports stars and celebrities to assistance turn the startup into a "sports media juggernaut".
Durant told Wide World of Sports that women's sports is yet being seen successful a much affirmative airy by all, not conscionable pistillate sports fans, and helium wants that to continue.
"It's conscionable arsenic entertaining arsenic it is for men arsenic well," the 2014 NBA MVP said.
"We present astatine 35V, we thought that was 1 of those things that was ace important for america arsenic we determination forward."
Durant doesn't conscionable speech the speech either, helium walks the locomotion arsenic a self-confessed WNBA superfan. He was other excited to spot Candace Parker go the archetypal pistillate hoops subordinate connected the screen of NBA 2K22 for the WNBA 25th Anniversary Special Edition being released connected September 10.
Durant said his favourite WNBA subordinate to ticker is Jonquel Jones, because, well, 'game recognises game'.
"She reminds maine of myself with her magnitude and however she shoots the ball. I'm a immense instrumentality of her," helium said.
"Charli Collier, she went to [University of] Texas arsenic the No.1 [WNBA draft] pick, truthful I travel her too.
"But I beauteous overmuch travel each the girls and effort to support up with the container scores and spot however they are doing each nighttime and ticker arsenic overmuch arsenic I can.
"The crippled of hoops is unthinkable nary substance who is connected the floor, I feel. So I bask watching the WNBA."
Durant believes 1 of the main reasons women's sports specified arsenic the WNBA has experienced specified maturation successful popularity successful caller years is owed to the improvement of societal media which is capable to scope caller audiences successful each caller ways.
He said women's sports' emergence is yet to scope its afloat potential, though.
"Women's sports I ever felt was putting a bully merchandise retired connected the level but a batch of radical weren't recognising it before, and I deliberation with the societal media boom, you get a deeper penetration into the athletes and you get to spot however hard that they enactment and however pugnacious it is to play their sport," Durant said.
"I deliberation much radical commencement to subordinate to these athletes, which brings much eyes and I deliberation it's increasing exponentially. And arsenic a nonrecreational athlete, it's ever important to enactment and to bring consciousness to these athletes and what they bash connected and disconnected the floor, truthful I lone spot it getting amended from here.
"Just proceed to enactment it and ticker and get arsenic galore radical to ticker arsenic possible.
"Once radical physique up the emotion for the game, they'll recognize a small spot more. They emotion that we are athletic, and we [men's basketball] tin get implicit the apical of the rim and excite radical with our athleticism, and a batch of fans consciousness the women's crippled is lacking that, but if you truly fastener successful and bask the accomplishment and fundamentals of the game, it's adjacent higher to watch.
"Try to instrumentality successful a crippled much and person an unfastened caput erstwhile you're watching the game, that volition help."
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