Kevin Durant donated $10 million to his impoverished hometown.

Kevin Durant grew up where 80 percent of his Seat Pleasant, Maryland neighbors lived in poverty.

He donated $10 million to build a college-preparatory center there.

That center is called the Durant Center.

It opened in 2018.

Durant partnered with Prince George's County Public Schools and College Track to make it happen.

College Track is an after-school program that helps underserved students prepare for college.

The Washington Post reported that the Durant Center would be the first of three College Track centers planned for the Washington, D.C., area.

In a 2018 article for Andscape, Durant shared his experience of growing up in a predominantly Black neighborhood.

He recalled the poverty, crime and police brutality in his community.

Basketball, he wrote, provided an escape.

"I had a laser focus on achieving what was necessary to leave my community," he wrote.

Looking back, he wished he had realized sooner how he could give back to his community.

He also emphasized, "We need to invest in our own communities. Invest in our kids."

He put that belief into action through College Track.

The 10-year program aimed to offer students academic support, test preparation, financial aid resources and guidance in choosing the colleges best suited to their needs.

Durant told the Washington Post, "I want to do my part, whatever it is."

That quote reflects his dedication to expanding educational opportunities for young people.

Before its expansion to Seat Pleasant, College Track had operated for over two decades in California.

By 2018, its programs nationwide had helped 3,000 students enroll in college.

Speaking further about the importance of supporting local communities, Durant added, "I believe communities will blossom and our country as a whole will be better because of it."

The Durant Center reflected his conviction that investing in the youth could create lasting and positive changes in their communities.

Seat Pleasant is a small city in Prince George's County, Maryland.

It sits just outside Washington, D.C.

Durant was born there on September 29, 1988.

He attended National Christian Academy in Fort Washington, Maryland, and then Montrose Christian School in Rockville, Maryland.

He played college basketball for the University of Texas at Austin for one season before declaring for the NBA draft.

The Seattle SuperSonics selected him with the second overall pick in 2007.

The franchise moved to Oklahoma City the following year and became the Thunder.

Durant played seven seasons for the Thunder, winning four scoring titles and the 2014 MVP award.

He led the Thunder to the NBA Finals in 2012.

In 2016, he left Oklahoma City to join the Golden State Warriors, a decision that sparked lasting controversy among fans.

He won two NBA championships with the Warriors, in 2017 and 2018.

He later played for the Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns.

Throughout his career, Durant has been one of the highest-paid players in the league.

His career earnings from NBA contracts alone exceed $350 million.

He has also signed lucrative endorsement deals with Nike and other brands.

Despite his wealth and fame, Durant has consistently emphasized the importance of giving back to the communities that shaped him.

The Durant Center is not his only philanthropic effort.

He has donated to numerous causes, including disaster relief, youth sports programs and social justice initiatives.

In 2016, he pledged $1 million to the American Red Cross for flood relief in Louisiana.

In 2018, he donated $3 million to his alma mater, the University of Texas, to help renovate its basketball facilities.

In 2020, he contributed to a fund for families of essential workers who died from COVID-19.

But the Durant Center in Seat Pleasant remains one of his most personal projects.

It is located in the community where he grew up, just blocks from the apartment he lived in as a child.

The center serves students from middle school through college.

Participants receive tutoring, college application assistance, scholarship guidance and mentorship.

College Track reports that 94 percent of its participants are accepted into four-year colleges.

Most of those students are the first in their families to go to college.

The program is free for students and their families.

Durant has visited the center multiple times since it opened.

He has spoken to students about his own journey and the importance of education.

He has also brought other NBA players to visit and mentor students.

The center has become a symbol of what is possible when athletes invest directly in their hometowns.

Durant's story stands in contrast to the typical narrative about NBA stars and their roots.

Many players donate money to charities or foundations, but few build physical centers in the neighborhoods where they grew up.

Fewer still write about their childhood experiences with poverty and violence as openly as Durant did.

In his Andscape essay, he described the daily reality of growing up in Seat Pleasant.

He wrote about friends who were killed, about the constant presence of police, about the sense that the system was stacked against him.

He wrote that basketball was not just a game for him.

It was a way out.

"I had a laser focus on achieving what was necessary to leave my community," he wrote.

But leaving, he realized later, was not enough.

"I wish I had understood earlier that I could come back and help," he wrote.

He concluded the essay with a call to action.

"We need to invest in our own communities. Invest in our kids."

The Durant Center is that investment.

It is designed to operate for at least a decade, providing continuous support for each cohort of students.

The goal is not just to get students into college, but to help them graduate and succeed afterward.

Durant has said he hopes the center will create a ripple effect.