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NBA superstar Kevin Durant is best known for leading the Golden State Warriors dynasty, and previously for his domination with the Oklahoma City Thunder. However, his philanthropy off the court will arguably leave the most lasting impact. A prime example is the Durant Center, an educational facility he recently helped open in his hometown of Prince George’s County, Maryland.
Through his Kevin Durant Charity Foundation (KDCF), Durant has committed $10 million over the next decade to a partnership between Prince George’s County Public Schools and College Track, an organization that helps low-income high school students earn a college degree, to help fund the Center and its programs.
With the goal of guiding students academically and professionally from the start of high school to college graduation, the Durant Center provides tutoring services, funds for college scholarships, and assistance with career development, beginning with its inaugural cohort of 69 students.
Shortly after the Center’s launch this past January, ESPN featured a segment from SportsCenter entitled “For PG from KD” detailing what Durant hopes to bring to the Prince George’s (PG) County community with the Durant Center. In describing what he saw in the kids’ faces when he toured the Center for the first time, Durant states:
“Kids with so much time ahead of them, so much opportunity to figure out what it is that you love. Just to have people that are on that same path and that same journey as you, it just builds up so much character. It’s amazing that I can provide that.”
For College Track’s part, they are fully committed to involvement in the students’ development, describing their 10-year promise on their website: “Our holistic program model ensures that students have the skills, resources, and mindsets they need to be competitive college applicants, thrive on a four-year campus, and experience professional success post-graduation.”
With his basketball talents bringing him from PG County to college at the University of Texas at Austin, then to the NBA in Oklahoma City (and briefly Seattle before the franchise’s move), and now Oakland, Durant has neither forgotten where he comes from nor where he’s been since. In 2018, Durant donated $3 million to UT Austin, in addition to supporting organizations like the Tulsa Dream Center, Boys & Girls Clubs, and Larkin Street Youth Services and Black Girls Code in San Francisco.
Named ESPN’s 2018 Humanitarian of the Year, Durant’s philanthropic reach extends around the world too, with his foundation completing community basketball court renovations in countries like India and Taiwan over the past couple years. Durant continues to demonstrate his commitment to giving back to the places that have shaped him and ensuring that young people all over the globe experience boundless opportunities to succeed in whatever path they choose.
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A version of this post was previously published on Thesportofphilanthropy.com and is republished here with permission from the author.
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Photo credit: Thesportofphilanthropy.com