‘I Blew More Money Than I Made’: Kevin Durant Says Young NBA Stars Insist on Learning Financial Lessons the Same Way He Did

Young NBA players won’t be getting any financial advice from Kevin Durant.

The Houston Rockets player said he refuses to lecture young players because, like him when he was younger, they probably wouldn’t listen anyway.

“I don’t tell these young n—s nothing. I spent a lot of money I ain’t had my first few years in the league. Like, I remember a year where I spent more money than I made,” Durant said on Dec. 17 on the “Unguarded” podcast. “People was giving me advice too, and I was not listening. So it doesn’t matter. When you are young and turnt in the league with bread, like, I ain’t trying to hear KD lecture me about financial literacy. … I’mma figure this s-it out how I figure it out.”

When asked what he’d like to spend his money on, he said seeing the world. “That’s why traveling though, bro. Like, that’s been my thing. Like, when I got some money … is like vacations, just seeing the world, just taking it in.”  

And the one deal he wished he had not passed on?

“BodyArmor,” he answered, saying he was too slow to invest. “Kobe changed his life off that. He might have made more money off of that than he did in the league.”

Kobe invested $6 million for a 10 percent stake in the sports drink company BodyArmor in 2013, became a major promoter, and served on its board, ultimately earning his estate a $400 million payout when Coca-Cola acquired BodyArmor in 2021.

Durant is not only one of the NBA’s most accomplished stars but also one of its most successful entrepreneurs.

His trade to the Rockets in July from the Phoenix Suns was followed by a two-year, $90 million contract extension signed in October, Forbes reported.

He’s been a perennial All-Star almost since joining the league in 2007 — his first All Star Game was in 2010 and he has been one for 15 years — and one of the league’s highest-paid players, ranking No. 3 on Forbes’ 2025 list of the NBA’s highest-paid players and No. 10 on the World’s Highest-Paid Athletes, with estimated earnings of $101.4 million for the period. He makes $51.4 million in on-court salary and $50 million off the court from endorsements with brands like Nike, FanDuel, and Fanatics.