Vatutin Reveals Why CSKA Turned Down Kevin Durants Contract Offer During 2011 NBA Lockout

The president of CSKA Moscow, **Andrei Vatutin**, shared insights on why the Russian club declined to sign star forward **Kevin Durant** during the 2011 NBA lockout. Vatutin pointed out that a short-term contract with such a high-profile player could ultimately harm the team and would not generate the expected revenue from merchandise sales.

«I have a story about Durant. During the NBA lockout, representatives came to us on his behalf. They said, ‘Listen, there’s an offer — sign Kevin. One million rubles a month. But as soon as the lockout ends, he’ll leave.’ It’s clear because he had a contract with Oklahoma City. This isn’t a great scenario for building a team here; you’re getting a player who’ll be on the court for at least 30 minutes a game and score about 30 points. Once he leaves, you’re left in a tough spot. You can’t build a long-term team under those conditions. They wanted to pay him a million a month and offered all rights to sell CSKA jerseys with his name. They also promised that there would be 100 journalists from Europe, America, and Russia at every practice. We responded with a no. They insisted, saying, ‘But you’ll make a fortune. All the jerseys are yours, and the press will be all over you.’ We explained that in Russia, this isn’t easily monetizable. How many jerseys would we sell? 1,000? 2,000? It doesn’t work here like it does in Greece, where you can see someone wearing a LeBron jersey. They probably still sit in the NBA thinking, ‘What an idiot, we offered him such a great business opportunity, and he turned it down,’” Vatutin recounted in an interview on **Fyodor Smolov’s podcast**.

[Click here to see Kevin Durant’s reaction to being traded to Houston.](https://www.championat.com/video/274282-reakciya-kevina-dyuranta-na-obmen-v-hyuston/)