Kevin Durant Has Partnered With Weedmaps To Help Eliminate Stigma Against Cannabis

via Boardroom

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Kevin Durant is well known due to his amazing abilities on the court. While obviously, his play deserves all the recognition in the world, he is also an amazing businessman off the court. With this latest development, it seems as though Kevin Durant will tap into yet another growing industry.

It has recently been announced by Kevin Durant and Thirty Five Ventures that they would be partnering with Weedmaps. Weedmaps is a known platform used by people who want to purchase cannabis as well as organizations who sell it. Kevin Durant released a video accompanying the announcement and talked a little about cannabis and its use in the sports world, while also revealing that he wanted to get into the industry even earlier.

Kevin Durant: We talked about wanting to get in this space like you said a few months back. To actually see it come full circle now and this conversation around cannabis we always had every day. Just as friends, and for us to actually try to tell stories around it, and seeing how we can parallel the sports world. It's been incredible just to work through the deal but now to have it signed, sealed it's exciting.

Rich Kleiman: The stigma from your perspective I would imagine is gone among your peers and amongst the NBA?

Kevin Durant: Most definitely. The stigma in society, it’s like the Band-Aid’s been ripped off. In the sports world, it was kind of an undercover thing that players used cannabis while they actively playing. You hear the conversation more and more around the league about it, and I always thought it was always interesting that the rest of the world was a little slower to be open about cannabis and its use... Athletes are still being tested four times a year for cannabis. It just felt the world was starting to close in on how people felt about the use of cannabis, and now, it's just an open dialogue and it's been amazing to hear.

Aside from the video discussing his motivations, Kevin Durant also released an official statement to explain why he and Thirty Five Ventures were partnering with Weedmaps. It looks as though the appeal here is the innovation of the platform.

Now more than ever, there is so much opportunity for growth in the cannabis industry as well as the removal of any remaining stigmas around its use. As a technology leader in the industry, Weedmaps has consistently been at the forefront of change over the last decade. In partnering with Boardroom and Thirty Five Ventures, they’ve shown an even bigger commitment to innovation.

It looks as though Kevin Durant has another business venture on his hands, and hopefully, the partnership proves fruitful. Kevin Durant was one of the Top 10 highest-paid athletes in the world this year, and if this endeavour goes well, he could add some more money to the bank.