KEVIN DURANT'S HARDEST THREE-POINT PLAY

The NBA superstar has come to New York with three goals in mind: A return to dominance, a defining championship and a lasting business empire They’re all interconnected

- STEVEN BERTONI

The sleek and infinitely long apartment overlooking Manhattan’s sleek and infinitely long High Line park perfectly, if unintentionally, frames the owner of this mansion in the sky, the NBA superstar Kevin Durant, who is so trim he looks even taller than 6 feet 10.

Settling into his (yes, infinite) blue velvet couch, Durant can toggle between the stunning skyline and his trophy-stacked office, filled with a museum’s worth of MVP, All-Star and other superlative hardware. (His two NBA championship rings, won with the Golden State Warriors, have a special home in the bedroom.)

But Durant’s focus is on present challenges, rather than past triumphs. Across from his trophy room sit a Pilates machine and a cagelike strength and balance trainer called a Sensopro, here to assist a career-saving comeback as he rehabs the Achilles tendon he ruptured during June’s NBA Finals in front of a television audience of 18 million. That season was done—the current one too. “What’s most important is to take care of my body so I can put my product back on the court,” Durant says, fresh from a workout wearing a printed hoodie featuring the antihero from the film A Clockwork Orange and black-and-orange Jordan high-tops. “How well you play on the court determines how big your business is going to grow.”

That business starts with a $164 million contract he signed with the Brooklyn Nets this summer and a 10-year, $275 million Nike shoe deal that assumes his continued superstardom. With those two alone, he will earn more than $70 million this season without suiting up for a single game. Durant’s goal is to turn that income into assets at a scale few athletes not named Jordan or LeBron have attempted.