Kevin Durant signs lifetime deal with Nike

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Kevin Durant has signed a lifetime contract with Nike, joining Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the only basketball players to ever do so.

News of the Durant's new deal was first reported by Boardroom, a sports business media vertical co-founded and owned by Durant.

According to Boardroom, "the lifetime partnership will continue to include footwear, apparel, and a community and philanthropic collaboration focused on grassroots basketball," which has been a longtime focus of Durant's charitable efforts.

"We’ve traveled the world together and built a business that will now last forever," Durant said, via Boardroom. "I’m excited for the future and honored to be in rare company with this deal."

Durant has released 15 signature shoes with Nike with a 16th in the works. He first signed with the company as a rookie with the Seattle SuperSonics in 2007. Since then, Durant has played for the Oklahoma City Thunder (after the SuperSonics relocated in 2008), the Golden State Warriors, the Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns, winning two NBA championships and NBA Finals MVPs with the Warriors in 2017 and 2018.

The 34-year-old Durant is widely considered one of the best basketball players of his generation, having won NBA MVP in 2014 and been named an All-Star 13 times. His blockbuster trade from the Nets to the Suns in February instantly made Phoenix an NBA Finals favorite. The Suns begin their Western Conference Semifinal series against the No. 1-seeded Nuggets in Denver on Saturday.