Kevin Durant is looking to get involved in another cheesy situation. This time, he and his company, Durant Co. have invested into startup pizza company, Pieology. ESPN did not report how much Durant invested.
The pizza chain, according to Darren Rovell of ESPN, has over 140 locations across the United States. The company serves assembly-style pizza. Food chains like Subway, Moes Southwest Grill and Chipotle popularized the practice.
It was recently revealed that LeBron James’ pizza partner Blaze Pizza is one of the more successful pizza chains in the country.
Durant, the customer, was so impressed by the establishment that he became Durant, the business partner.
Following from ESPN:
“I went to [one of] them and saw how quickly they did it and was really impressed with the quality,” Durant told ESPN of Pieology, which has more than 140 franchises to date. “I just felt like, given how fast our lives our these days, we don’t want to wait for our pizza anymore.”
Durant noted in the interview that he and Pielogy aren’t looking to get into competition with James and Blaze.
“This isn’t about me versus LeBron,” Durant said. “I think we do have different interests and we handle things differently, but the respect for each other is there. I do think we, as athletes, have realized the value of our stock these days, of the control that we have over what makes us valuable, including our social media accounts.”
NBA players learned long ago that their brands reach much farther than the average sneaker deal or local car dealership advertisement. Durant and his business partner Rich Kleinman are trying to harness that marketability early.
The NBA finals MVP has found another way to make some reasonable dough. Maybe this new venture will aid in keeping him away from any more social media mishaps.
