Suns’ Kevin Durant Says Agent, Dad, Aunt wanted Him to Join Knicks over Nets

Timothy Rapp@@TRappaRTFeatured Columnist IVFebruary 21, 2024

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Kevin Durant and his longtime agent and business partner, Rich Kleiman, revealed on Tuesday’s Boardroom Cover Story that Kleiman and several of Durant’s family members wanted him to choose the New York Knicks over the Brooklyn Nets back in the summer of 2019.

“I wanted you to go to the Knicks, bro,” Klaiman said (58:36 mark).

“You definitely did,” Durant responded. “You definitely did, more than anything.”

Durant noted that Kleiman—a longtime Knicks fan—had “Knicks blinders” on during the process, though he wasn’t the only one.

“My dad [and] you love the Knicks,” he said.

“Oh yeah, your dad was with me,” Klaiman responded. “Heavy.”

“My aunt loves the Knicks,” Durant added.

Instead, Durant teamed up with Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn for what turned out to be 3.5 extremely memorable—and largely unsuccessful—seasons.

Durant missed the entirety of the first year as he recovered from a torn Achilles. In his second season, the team acquired James Harden in a trade with the Houston Rockets, and expectations went through the roof.

But due to injuries and various Irving controversies, the trio appeared in just 16 games together between the regular season and playoffs and won just one postseason series. Harden ultimately forced a trade to the Philadelphia 76ers in Feb. 2022. One year later, Irving was traded to the Dallas Mavericks and Durant was sent packing to the Phoenix Suns.

Back in 2019, Durant and Irving’s decision to snub the Knicks in favor of the Nets—and they were hardly the only stars to do so—was indicative of how far the organization had fallen from grace under executive chairman James Dolan.

But in the intervening years, patient roster construction from team president Leon Rose has led to a core group that includes Jalen Brunson, O.G. Anunoby, Julius Randle and a solid assortment of role players. At 33-22, the Knicks look like they’ll be a tough out in the playoffs.

The Nets, meanwhile, have Mikal Bridges and plenty of future draft picks to build around, though beyond that have a roster mostly composed of role players. In a few short years, they went from being the hot ticket in New York to an organization at something of a crossroads.

And now its the Knicks that look to be building something special. As the new-age cliché goes, life comes at you fast.