Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant has just raised $110,000 for the All-In Challenge by Fanatics. For his part, the former MVP winner auctioned off his NCAA Player of the Year trophy, along with courtside tickets to a Nets game, and dinner with him to one of the two-time NBA champ's favorite restaurants.
The All-In Challenge is a charitable drive that hopes to “alleviate food insecurity” by giving bidders a chance to win once-in-a-lifetime experiences and memorabilia from the biggest celebrities. This is how Fanatics described the Kevin Durant experience:
“No fluff needed here. No puff pieces either. Pretty-sounding words and elegant turns of phrase, away with you. We don't have to sell you on this, because you already know you want it. Doesn't take flowery language to say how big of a deal it is that a legend such as Kevin Durant is going ALL IN and offering up his 2006-2007 Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year trophy for auction to benefit the #AllinChallenge. Not only that, KD himself will also take you and a guest (in his own car!) to Barclays Center in Brooklyn for a Nets home game, where you will sit courtside for the shootaround and the entire game before heading to the locker room for the postgame festivities. Seems like that should be enough, but since basketball makes a man hungry, KD will then take you out to dinner at one of his favorite local restaurants. We'll even throw in airfare, transportation to and from the airport and a two-night hotel stay.”
Bidding reportedly started at $25,000, but in the end, the winner was more than willing to part ways with more than four times the initial amount just to be able to have this unique experience.
For the record, Durant spent a single year in Texas as an 18-year-old, where he averaged 25.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists, en route to becoming the second overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft to the Seattle SuperSonics. For those who may have forgotten, the Portland Blazers took Greg Oden first overall. Ouch.