Kris Humphries is no longer chasing rebounds. He is building a restaurant business in Minnesota, where he now runs multiple Dave’s Hot Chicken franchises and is tied to a bigger expansion plan across the Twin Cities.
That is a sharp turn from the life that made his name. Humphries retired from the NBA in 2017 after 13 seasons, and for years he has stayed mostly out of the spotlight that followed his brief 2011 marriage to Kim Kardashian. Now, at 41, he is talking about a new phase built around franchises rather than free throws.
Humphries opened his first Minnesota franchise in 2023 after signing in 2022 to launch 10 Dave’s Hot Chicken locations throughout Minnesota. As of last September, he had signed to open 30 locations across the Twin Cities, a scale that suggests he is no longer dabbling in the business but leaning into it. He told 9 that he was familiar with the area because he went to Hopkins High School and used to come over to the mall a lot after school. “So I thought it would be cool to do the first one near where I used to go to school,” he said, adding that the area needed a hot chicken spot.
That local connection matters because it explains why this move feels personal, not just financial. Humphries said, “Since I’ve stepped away from the game, I’m trying to stay under the radar and work on a new phase of my life,” and he also said, “I’ve been developing some business ventures.”
But staying under the radar is not quite the same thing as disappearing. He has also been seen in several stores and taking part in hot chicken challenges, a public-facing rhythm that sits uneasily beside his wish to keep a low profile. The contrast is fitting for a former athlete whose name still travels faster than his current work.
For now, the business is the story. Humphries has moved from a 13-season NBA career that ended with the Atlanta Hawks in 2017 to a franchise operation that is still growing, with the unanswered question being how many of those 30 Twin Cities locations will actually open and how quickly he will get there.
