Before choosing to jump from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Golden State Warriors in free agency, Kevin Durant owned a virtually unanimous approval rating from NBA fans. Since then, of course, not everyone loves Durant, but with that said, the former NBA MVP is the lone member of the league to land in this year’s Time 100 list of the world’s most influential people.
Durant is one of six members of the sports world to be recognized on the list and Eddy Cue of Apple included the following snippet about the 29-year-old basketball star.
From committing $10 million to the College Track program to help disadvantaged kids receive higher education to building and renovating basketball courts around the world so at-risk youth have a safe place to learn and play, KD is giving those growing up in tough situations, like he did, a path to success. His generosity knows no bounds.
As an entrepreneur, KD brings the same relentless work ethic and pursuit of excellence that he has on the court, focusing on companies and products that are making lives better.
Durant is joined by Chloe Kim (snowboarding), J.J. Watt (football), Roger Federer (tennis), Adam Rippon (figure skating) and Virat Kohli (cricket) on the list, and it is at least mildly surprising to encounter a list of this magnitude that does not include LeBron James. In the same breath, Durant’s generosity and entrepreneurial spirit are worth recognizing, and his inclusion does not feel out of place.
It would be easy to debate other potential sports (or NBA-specific) representatives that could have appeared on the list, and frankly, that will almost certainly happen. Still, the glowing terms ascribed to Durant here are appropriate given his off-court work and, sometimes, it is good to take a step back from the day-by-day grind of NBA and player scrutiny in order to take a larger world view.
