Oh what could have been if Rich Kleiman had his way.
Kevin Durant and his agent and business partner revealed during a Boardroom.tv interview that Kleiman had pushed hard for him to go to the Knicks during the fateful summer of 2019 when the NBA superstar left Golden State for Brooklyn.
“Will you tell the camera and whatever Knicks fans will watch this that I wanted you to go to the Knicks,” Keiman said.
“You definitely did. You definitely did more than anything,” Durant acknowledged five years after making the decision to go to the Nets rather than signing with one of the league’s marquee franchises.
Durant’s decision looked to add so much promise for the Nets, who looked as though they were about to enter an era of unimaginable success since the franchise had relocated to Brooklyn.
Kyrie Irving also signed with the Nets that offseason, and they later brought in James Harden, but injuries and off-the-court issues prevented Brooklyn from ever reaching the heights that Durant and the organization had anticipated.
But it now appears that he faced several opposing voices in his decision to not go to Broadway.
Even though his father and aunt also pushed for the 14-time NBA All-Star to play for the Knicks, Durant said just months after his Brooklyn signing that New York’s brand was not cool during a Hot 97 interview.
He walked that back on Tuesday in the Boardroom interview.
“The brand was cool, but at the time, you know I’m not looking at the cool brand outside of the game,” Durant said. “I was looking at the team, and the team was not cool to play for. The team was not cool to watch. It wasn’t a good team to watch. I might have embellished a little bit or lied a little bit about, like, the brand. I might have thrown the brand in there, too.”
The Knicks have turned around tremendously in the past few seasons and now sit at fourth in the Eastern Conference with a 33-22 record after a strong first half from All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson.
“At that time, they weren’t [cool],” Durant said. “The Knicks weren’t cool, but they are a cool brand. … They’re popping right now. They’re playing well. The last few years, they were playing well.
“But before that, they weren’t playing well.”
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