Kevin Durant has heard every joke about his ashy ankles.
For years, fans on X have teased the 37-year-old superstar about his dry skin, especially after a viral 2021 close-up photo showed his ankles looking noticeably cracked during a game. Durant initially fired back at critics, as he often does online. This time, he decided to flip the narrative and cash in.
“I got paid $2 million for 2 hours of work… what am I gonna say, no?” Durant said in a recent fan interaction when asked about his now-viral CeraVe commercial.
That number raised eyebrows instantly.
“I got paid $2 million for 2 hours of work… what am I gonna say, no?”
– Kevin Durant on his CeraVe ad 😅
(h/t @BrickCenter_ )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 20, 2026
Durant recently became the face of CeraVe in a tongue-in-cheek campaign that openly mocked his long-running ‘ashy skin’ reputation. The rollout started subtly. In late January, he posted a video reading mean tweets about his dry ankles, similar to the popular celebrity segment on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. The internet exploded. Fans could not believe he was leaning into the joke.
Then came the full reveal.
In the official ad, Durant applies lotion to his exaggeratedly long legs, humorously embracing the “New Face of Legs” tagline. The video ends with him spinning the lotion bottle on his finger like a basketball. It was self-aware, ironic, and perfectly timed.
Durant has endorsed global brands like Nike and Gatorade throughout his career. He has also partnered with sportsbook companies. A skincare brand built around moisturizing cracked skin was not exactly on anyone’s bingo card. Yet that was precisely why it worked.
The irony runs deeper.
In December 2025, Durant appeared on teammate Fred VanVleet’s podcast and candidly discussed his hygiene habits. He admitted he stopped getting regular haircuts and even stopped lotioning his skin. He even joked about sometimes going a day or two without showering if he did not have practice, saying he liked feeling ‘close to the trenches.’ Those comments fueled even more online jokes.
So when CeraVe came calling, the partnership almost wrote itself.
From a business standpoint, it was a savvy move. Durant turned a decade-long internet roast into a multi-million-dollar punchline. Two hours of filming reportedly earned him $2 million. That is the kind of efficiency only elite athletes can command.
The timing also matters.
Durant has recently been under scrutiny over alleged burner account activity that criticized former and current teammates. While he has dismissed those accusations as ‘Twitter nonsense,’ the social media chatter has been relentless. The CeraVe ad offered something different: humor instead of controversy.
It also reminded people that Durant understands branding. He has always been one of the most online superstars in NBA history. Sometimes that has hurt him, but this time, it paid him.
At 37, Durant is still producing at an All-NBA level. Off the court, he remains a sharp businessman who knows how to monetize attention, even when it starts as mockery.
For years, fans told him to moisturize. Now he did, and he got $2 million for it.
