Getty Rare sight: Kevin Durant in a Nets uniform
Last week Brooklyn Nets’ star forward Kevin Durant and his agent Rich Kleiman announced the relaunch of their company Thirty-Five Ventures’ digital media platform, The Boardroom according to Mark Malkin of Variety. The relaunch includes a host of new shows including Risk-Reward, a sports-business show that will be hosted by former Golden State Warriors and NBA on TNT sideline reporter Rosalyn Gold-Onwude.
According to Malkin the show will be produced in partnership with Goldman Sachs Wealth Management. “Gold-Onwude will interview people in the worlds of sports and business about high-stakes decision making as well as financial topics,” writes Malkin. Gold-Onwude spoke to me about her time at Turner Sports during March Madness Media Day back in 2018.
Ros Gold-Onwude Details Her Time at TNT
“I think just covering the entire league, you know, just getting to know all the teams, all the players, telling all the stories. And then the Turner family has beaten expectations so far, as far as their support, their excitement about me [and]their creativity,” she said. “They put me in a lot of different roles so far, not only on the court but as an analyst, I’m doing Area 21 with KG daily, getting to kick it with and listen to Ernie Johnson, you know, Shaq, Chuck, Isiah Thomas, Chris Webber. These are the legends I get to work with and absorb knowledge from. So, I just feel like I’ve been elevated and I’m thankful for that.”
Durant Is Looking To Build Media Empire
Kleinman and Durant are continuing to keep the ball rolling with Thirty-Five Ventures’ programming even after ESPN canceled The Boardroom after just two seasons. Kleinman guaranteed fans they would be getting a bigger and better product in July after ESPN announced its decision to not renew The Boardroom.
“The Boardroom is bigger and better then ever,” Kleiman tweeted. “We built something to highlight the incredible stories of young Entrepreneurs that come from nothing. We tell feel-good success stories for young people to relate to and be inspired by. And we want it to be for FREE ..Theboardroom.tv “
The Boardroom is bigger and better then ever. We built something to highlight the incredible stories of young Entrepreneur’s that come from nothing. We tell feel good success stories for young people to relate to and be inspired by. And we want it to be for FREE..Theboardroom.tv
Much like Lakers forward LeBron James, Durant is starting to make his mark in the world of digital media. James and his business partner Maverick Carter announced the formation of the Springhill Co., a media company that will be supported by a $100 Million funding round according to Bloomberg Businessweek. The platform will be used to tell athletes’ stories including ‘Top-Class’ a documentary that follows James’ son Bronny James and his prep school powerhouse Sierra Canyon on the road to the California State Championship.
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Like James and Durant, Gold-Onwude is a hooper. The former Stanford University standout talked to me about her journey with the Nigerian national team.
“It was such a blessing,” said Gold-Onwude. “It was an honor to represent the country for me too. It was a really nice way of cultural exploration and getting to know even more about my father’s side, to connect with other women who had similar experiences growing up, you know, those bus rides with the women’s team. You also just told stories about our parents, like our African parents and the baby, the funny things they would say to us, you know, it was just like a cracking jokes session. You know why our parents didn’t get that we wanted to play basketball.
“They wanted us to be lawyers and doctors like any good Nigerian, you know, it was just like, you had fun within this thing. It was a very beautiful experience. And then to travel to Africa we went from Mozambique to Nigeria, to Mali were all over. It was a beautiful experience. And I have a lot of pride in that.”
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