Kevin Durant prohibited from endorsing products with sugar or preservatives

Kevin Durant is prohibited from endorsing any food or drink product that contains sugar or preservatives, under terms of an endorsement deal with Kind Foods that was negotiated by his latest agency, Jay Z’s Roc Nation, a source tells SheridanHoops.com.

The rare contractual language is part of Durant’s deal with Kind Foods, which markets healthy snack foods. Durant signed an endorsement deal with them in March. For the next three years, because of the contract language, you will not see Durant endorsing Coke, Pepsi, McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, or any of the other mass market behemoths that typically recruit athletes to endorse their products.

Basketball industry executives who have negotiated endorsement deals for other athletes said the language was unusually restrictive.

The news of the no-sugar, no-preservative restriction on Durant comes in the wake of his withdrawal from Team USA as he negotiated a new sneaker deal to replace his agreement with Nike, which expires Sept. 30. Durant’s withdrawal has disappointed the US national team federation, including Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski, who said he was blindsided last week when he received a call from Durant informing him that he was leaving the team.

“Looking back, if you could turn back time. you would like for him to make that decision before Vegas. We might have invited somebody different,” Krzyzewski said. “But saying that, that’s in the past, we’re forward, and it puts us a little behind, just like the injuries.”

“I think he had a good camp, not a great camp,” the coach added. “He was not as vocal as he usually was. Even after Paul (George’s) injury, he was saying ‘What can we do when we go to Chicago to get the guys to rally?’ So that’s the reason we were caught unexpected. I asked him to be a leader, and he was leading after the Vegas game.”

Durant’s new sneaker deal is being negotiated by Roc Nation, which is the third agency that has represented Durant since he entered the NBA.