Kevin Durant on increased price of his shoes: ‘I’m not a $88 player’
Your teams. Your favorite writers. Wherever you want them. Personalize SI with our new App. Install on iOS or Android.
Kevin Durant’s KD9 Nike shoe was released late in June, available to the public for $150. While it is $30 cheaper than the KD8 that came before it, the most recent version of Durant’s shoe is still far pricier than what it used to be.
Durant and Nike began selling the shoe at an affordable $88, and actually dropped the price down to $85 for the KD2 and KD3 releases. Then, the price began to climb, all the way to $180 for the KD8.
• Kevin Durant, designer Chang discuss new KD9 sneaker
When asked about this in a recent press conference, Durant was pretty blunt.
“As humbly as I can say it, I’m not a $88 player,” Durant said. “I’m an elite player in the league. I wanted everything to be affordable, but I knew we had to sacrifice some stuff. I just wanted the fans of the brand and of the shoe to just stay patient with me. And stay patient with who I am as a player, and the level I was trying to go to.”
Durant is no longer an $88 player, he is now a $26 million-a-year player after reaching a two-year agreement with the Golden State Warriors.
A new black colorway of the KD9 will be released on Saturday.
– Kenny Ducey
