Longtime Commanders fan Kevin Durant wants to join new ownership group
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Kevin Durant wants a piece of his favorite NFL team.
The Brooklyn Nets star and longtime Washington Commanders fan said Sunday that he wants to be part of the organization’s next ownership group.
As owner Dan Snyder explores the possibility of selling the franchise amid his latest scandal, Durant is throwing his hat into the ring now.
“In a perfect world, I would be a part of it,” Durant said Sunday, via ESPN. “I would love to do it. I would love to give a little bit of my money to be a part of the Commanders, but we’ll see. Hopefully it’s somebody nice. I heard [Amazon founder Jeff] Bezos and Jay-Z, but you never know.”
Snyder announced earlier this week that they hired BofA Securities to “consider potential transactions” regarding the sale of the franchise, which is the first step for any future sale. Snyder has said they are just “exploring all options.”
Hours after the Commanders made that announcement, the U.S. attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Virginia announced it had opened a criminal investigation into the team — which marks just the latest scandal surrounding Snyder and the Commanders.
There are several reported interested bidders in the franchise, which was last valued at about $5.6 billion. Bezos is reportedly considering a bid with rapper and producer Jay-Z, among others.
Durant was born in Washington, D.C., and has been a fan of the team for as long as he can remember. If he can pull off joining an ownership group of his favorite team, though, Durant said he doesn’t want to get too involved.
"I would probably stay more of a fan than try to get involved with the team," Durant said, via ESPN. "And it would be something nice for my family, and just to have in our family, that would be incredible to be a part of that group. Just get a little closer to the team if I were to be able to be in that position. Try to learn the business, try to learn from an ownership's perspective and a front-office perspective, coach's perspective, try to get closer to players."
Any stake he ends up getting, however, would be admittedly small. The team is expected to set a new record if it is in fact sold, which would break the $4.65 billion that the Broncos sold for earlier this year.
While Durant has done plenty well for himself throughout his playing career — his current contract should bring him to nearly $500 million in career earnings, and he already owns minority shares of both the Philadelphia Union and Gotham FC — he doesn’t have the kind of money needed to purchase an NFL team.
"I don't have a lot of money, though,” he said, via ESPN. “I don't have that much money to say, 'Look, man, let me get a piece of the team.' So I'm sure it would have to work out some way, somehow. I would love to, obviously, but to be honest, I doubt that it'll happen."
