Getty Former Brooklyn Nets players Kyrie Irving #11 reacts with Kevin Durant #7 during the second half against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Kevin Durant‘s agent Rich Kleiman revealed in the most recent episode of “Boardroom” that he wanted his top client to join the team he rooted for since childhood, the New York Knicks, during the 2019 NBA free agency.
Durant’s father and his uncle were on board with Kleiman until Durant chose to join his friend, Kyrie Irving, in Brooklyn instead. The superstar’s free agency decision in 2019 became a sliding-door moment in his career and NBA history.
“Let’s say this, had you gone to the Knicks after the Bay, right? And you never won a championship ever. But you went to the conference finals, maybe went to finals, maybe went to the second round of playoffs. I actually think you’d be in that [greatest players] combo quicker than because of what you did,” Kleiman said.
Durant acknowledged Kleiman’s assessment of what could have been.
“I know that was so hard for you,” Durant said to Kleiman, referring to his decision to sign with the Nets which forced Kleiman to turn his back on his beloved Knicks for two years. “That’s why I love you so much because that was the toughest thing above anything.”
The pair of Durant and Irving and later on their superteam with James Harden spectacularly failed as the Nets only had one playoff series win under their belts. Harden forced a trade to Philadelphia in 2022 then Irving (to the Dallas Mavericks) and Durant (to the Phoenix Suns) soon followed during last year’s trade deadline.
Durant has another superteam in Phoenix with Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.
Kevin Durant Clarifies ‘Knicks Aren’t Cool’ Statement
Durant spurning the Knicks made him a Garden villain. But he put more fuel to the fire when he said “The Knicks aren’t cool” shortly after joining the Nets.
Durant clarified the five-year-old statement, saying he might have embellished it.
“At that time, the Knicks weren’t cool, but they are cool brand,” Durant explained. Like when the Knicks are on right now. They’re popping. They’re probably well last few years.”
But when he weighed his decision during the 2019 free agency, he saw a floundering Knicks team with no stability. The Nets, on the other hand, were on the rise after making the playoffs the previous season.
“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 may have embellished it a little bit.
But yeah, of course, the Knicks brand [is cool]. Like New York is New York. Living in New York made me truly realize that it’s the greatest city in the world.”
Knicks Viewed as Eastern Conference Finals Contender
One of the reasons why the Knicks are cool again is Jalen Brunson, a first-time All-Star this season who carried them to the second round of the playoffs last year.
According to “Inside the NBA” on TNT analyst Kenny Smith, Brunson is a top-5 MVP candidate this season which is why he believes the Knicks will reach the Eastern Conference Finals opposite the current league’s best team, Boston Celtics.
“At the beginning of the year, I made a comment,” Smith said on the “Stephen A. Smith Show” on February 20. “I said I don’t know if the Knicks could win the Eastern Conference or be in it because they always walk on the floor having the second-best player right. … but Brunson has narrowed the gap.”
Before the season started, ESPN’s Bobby Marks predicted Brunson’s Knicks and Durant’s Suns to meet in the NBA Finals this season.