NBA star Kevin Durant has become a minority shareholder in Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), the three-time defending Ligue 1 champions, as announced by the French club on Wednesday.
The recent Olympic gold medalist, who represented Team USA at the 2024 Olympics, invested several million dollars of his own money into the club, according to a source from ESPN.
Durant’s investment was made through Arctos Sports Partners, an American investment fund that acquired a 12.5% stake in PSG in 2023, valuing the club at $4.6 billion (€4.25bn).
His involvement is aimed at enhancing PSG’s brand presence in the U.S., particularly with the upcoming 2025 Club World Cup and the 2026 World Cup, both set to take place in America.
The 35-year-old Phoenix Suns player is an avid soccer fan and part owner of MLS team Philadelphia Union.
Durant, who is a close friend of PSG president Nasser Al Khelaifi, has visited PSG’s training ground and Parc des Princes stadium multiple times before making his investment.
On August 6, Durant visited Campus PSGto greet players, staff, and head coach Luis Enrique.
A source told ESPN that Durant is genuinely enthusiastic about his involvement with the club and is taking his investment very seriously.
Kevin Durant felt the nerves ahead of his home debut for the Phoenix Suns but was thrilled to be back from injury.
Durant has endured injury frustration in his first months as a Suns player since his trade from the Brooklyn Nets.
The 2014 MVP joined the Suns on February 9, but he had played only three times prior to Wednesday’s meeting with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
All of those games, which were won by Phoenix, came on the road.
Having missed the last 10 games due to a sprained ankle, Durant returned for his home bow against the Timberwolves, and he had 16 points, four assists and eight rebounds in a 107-100 victory.
Durant acknowledged that even with his wealth of experience to call on, it was hard to keep the nerves in check.
“It was hard for me to get sleep today, it was hard for me to stop thinking about the game,” Durant said. “Sometimes you can want it too bad, and you come out, start rushing and being uncharacteristic.”
Now, he aims to build up his fitness as the Suns look towards securing a postseason berth.
“I’m glad I’m back, I’m glad I’m playing again and being one of the guys. Just building from here,” Durant said.
“It felt good. I miss playing, I miss being with the guys. It was a big win for us, we needed this one, but yeah I felt good being out there again.”
"It felt good. I miss playing, I miss being with the guys…Every day I just try to be the best that I can…So I'm looking forward to keep building."
🗣️ KD speaks on how it felt getting back on the court and playing with the team again. pic.twitter.com/ubd6IxoMOK
Phoenix coach Monty Williams was impressed with what he saw from the 13-time All-Star but knows there is more to come.
“I thought he battled on both ends,” Williams told reporters.
“I think his cardio has got to get back to the level he wants it. Once he gets that, we’ll see the Kevin that we all know.”
The Suns’ third straight win saw them consolidate their grip on the Western Conference’s fourth seed.
Devin Booker was the driving force for Phoenix with 29 points, with Anthony Edwards’ 31-point haul not enough to inspire the Timberwolves to a winning performance.
Kevin Durantproduced his best scoring performance of the season to carry the Brooklyn Nets to a 109-102 victory against the Orlando Magic on Monday.
In a remarkably efficient outing, Durant hit 19-of-24 from the field, three-of-five from deep and all four of his free throws for 45 points in 39 minutes. He added seven rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks.
One of the greatest offensive players in league history, Durant has rediscovered his ability to protect the rim defensively this season, with his 1.8 blocks per game placing him eighth in the league while tying his career-high.
Durant was supported well by Kyrie Irving with 20 points on nine-of-17 shooting, but they had to see out the second half without Ben Simmons after the Australian left the game in the second quarter due to left knee soreness.
Starting center Nic Claxton picked up the slack with 17 points (seven-of-10 shooting), 13 rebounds and three blocks, while Joe Harris chipped in 17 points off the bench.
For Orlando, heavy favourite for Rookie of the Year and top overall pick from this year’s draft Paolo Banchero continued to display his All-NBA upside, scoring an equal team-high 24 points on nine-of-17 shooting with five assists, four rebounds and two steals.
With the result, the Nets have now won five of their past seven games, and have pulled their record even at 11-11.
Siakam’s return ignites Raptors
Pascal Siakam returned to the Toronto Raptors starting line-up and looked right at home with 18 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in a 100-88 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Siakam had missed the past 10 games due to a strained adductor, but mustered 30 minutes in his first game back.
O.G. Anunoby top scored for the Raptors with 20 points on eight-of-13 shooting, while in an interesting coaching decision, Nick Nurse opted to start Juancho Hernangomez and bring reigning Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes off the bench.
After starting the season with Siakam as the biggest player in the Raptors’ starting line-up, Nurse pivoted to a larger group in his return, with Gary Trent Jr also relegated to the bench in favour of Thaddeus Young.
With C.J. McCollum and Brandon Ingram both missing through injuries, Zion Williamson assumed the role of lead initiator in the New Orleans Pelicans’ 105-101 triumph against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Williamson, who largely operated as the lead ball-handler during the second half of his breakout 2020-21 campaign, dished a season-high eight assists to go with his 23 points (11-of-18 shooting) and eight rebounds.
He did it on both ends, as his three blocks nearly matched his total for the season, having only tallied a combined four from his first 14 games
A high-profile basketball trainer who has worked with NBA superstars such as LeBronJames, Kevin Durant, and Steph Curry, was arrested last week and charged with rape.
As reported by ESPN, Rob McClanaghan is accused of raping and drugging a woman at a hotel in downtown Boston. The 43-year-old was arrested in Rhode Island on Friday and arraigned in court Monday, after the Boston Police Sexual Assault Unit and the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office issued a warrant for his arrest.
“The suspect was transported by the BPD Fugitive Unit in coordination with members of the Warwick RI Police Department for booking at their department facility,” authorities said in a press release. “McClanaghan will be arraigned on Monday at the Third District Court in Kent County, Rhode Island where he will be charged as a Fugitive from Justice.”
It’s unclear when and where the alleged incident occurred.
When reached for comment on the charges, McClanaghan’s lawyer Dan Griffin told ESPN: “No comment. Zero.”
ABC’s Boston affiliate WCVB-TV reached out to the Celtics for a statement, as C’s center Al Horford is a client of McClanaghan’s.
A spokesperson for the team confirmed that McClanaghan, who previously worked with Boston’s interim head coach Joe Mazzullais at local high school Bishop Hendricken, is not employed by the Celtics.
In a new interview with Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes, Kevin Durant opened up about a variety of topics, including his trade request over the summer, as well as his relationship with teammate Kyrie Irving.
When asked about how his leadership compares to other superstars around the league, KDtouched on how he was criticized for not pushing Kyrie to get vaccinated.
“I’m not a leader? What the fuck does that mean?” Durant said. “A lot of people say I’m not a leader because I didn’t tell Kyrie to get vaccinated. Come on. Or I didn’t condemn Kyrie for leaving the team, going out and living his life. I’m not about to tell a grown-ass man what he can and can’t do with his own life and dissect his views or how he thinks about shit.”
“We can have a conversation and exchange perspectives on how I feel about the topic and you feel about the topic, but everybody else don’t need to know or hear about our conversations because we’re grown-ass men. I don’t operate like that,” he added.
Elsewhere in the interview, Durant discussed why he requested a trade over the summer, revealing that it had more to do with the Nets not holding him accountable, than it had to do with Brooklyn not surrounding him with enough talent.
“It wasn’t difficult at all to request a trade because it was about ball,” Durant told Haynes. “I went to them and was like, ‘Yo, I don’t like how we are preparing. I don’t like shootarounds. I like practices. I need more. I want to work on more shit. Hold me accountable. Get on my ass in film if that’s going to help you get on everybody else’s head. I want to do more closeouts. I want to work on more shell drills at practice.’”
Durant continued, “This was the type of shit I was coming at them with. It wasn’t like, ‘Yo, y’all need to make sure everybody around me can make my life easier.’ Hell nah, I want to make everybody else’s life easier. Ask Steve Nash, you can go call him right now. I would say, ‘Yo, I need more closeout drills. We need to practice more.’ That’s what I was on.”
As for the Nets’ chances of contending for a title, Durant maintained that the team shouldn’t be expected to win simply because KD is on the floor.
“Look at our starting lineup. Edmond Sumner, Royce O’Neale, Joe Harris, [Nic] Claxton and me. It’s not disrespect, but what are you expecting from that group?” Durant asked. “You expect us to win because I’m out there. So if you’re watching from that lens, you’re expecting us to play well because No. 7 is out there.”
Kevin Durant does not want Jacque Vaughn’s appointment as permanent head coach to be a fleeting “honeymoon stage” for the Brooklyn Nets after winning three of their past four games.
The Nets triumphed 112-85 over the New York Knicks on Wednesday after removing the interim tag from Vaughn’s title, appointing him on a permanent basis.
Brooklyn have a 3-2 record under Vaughn, having started the season 2-5 under Steve Nash, who was fired last week. The Nets have also been playing without the suspended Kyrie Irving for their past four games.
“We don’t want this to be a honeymoon stage for us,” Durant told reporters, after recording a triple-double against the Knicks with 29 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists.
“We want to continue to keep pushing through, keep finding ways to get better, finding ways to turn those weaknesses to strengths and keep pushing from here.
“We were struggling, we’ve been through a lot. Guys got pride, individual pride, and we just wanted to come out and play better. That’s what we’ve been doing.”
Durant presented Vaughn with the game ball afterwards, amid upbeat scenes from a Nets locker-room which has been through plenty this season.
“I was excited for him,” Durant said. “I know the work that he puts in every day. I know how much he cares about the development of each player, and this team as a whole.
“Look forward to playing for him. All the guys have responded to how he wants us to play, so I’m looking forward to how we progress after this.”
The Nets’ recent change in results has coincided with keeping opposition sides below 100 points in their past four games. The run marks the first time Brooklyn have done that since the 2014-15 season.
“We’ve already taken a big jump last four games, teams under 100 points, which has been great,” Vaughn said. “So definitely concerted effort…. We really came out with the right mindset.”
Durant presented Vaughn with the game ball afterwards, amid upbeat scenes from a Nets locker-room which has been through plenty this season.
“I was excited for him,” Durant said. “I know the work that he puts in every day. I know how much he cares about the development of each player, and this team as a whole.
“Look forward to playing for him. All the guys have responded to how he wants us to play, so I’m looking forward to how we progress after this.”
The Nets’ recent change in results has coincided with keeping opposition sides below 100 points in their past four games. The run marks the first time Brooklyn have done that since the 2014-15 season.
“We’ve already taken a big jump last four games, teams under 100 points, which has been great,” Vaughn said. “So definitely concerted effort…. We really came out with the right mindset.”
