Kevin Durant Revealed His Agent And Dad Both Wanted Him To Join The Knicks Back When He Signed With The Nets Then Walked Back His Old Comments About The Knicks Not Being Cool
KD agent Rich Kleiman: “I wanted you to go to the Knicks”
KD: “Oh definitely… “My dad, you…unc love the Knicks. Everybody…” …
Kleiman: “Admit the Knicks are cool…”
KD: “At that time they weren’t. The Knicks weren’t cool. But they are a cool brand…Like right now, they poppin…last few years. But before that..the brand was cool but…I was looking at the team. And the team was not cool to play for. The team was not cool to watch…I might have embellished or lied a little bit about the brand, I might’ve thrown the brand in there too. But of course, the Knicks brand, like—living in New York made me truly realize how it’s the greatest city in the world…”
Holy shit that quote would've have BROKEN me during the dark days of the Knicks, which we were pretty much everything this century before 2020 outside of a couple of Melo seasons and that Linsanity run. But now? I couldn't be happier reading it, which may be the greatest trick Leon Rose has ever pulled.
Look, I can't act like Kevin Durant not even taking a meeting with the Knicks during free agency after being linked to them for months was a good thing at the time, with this Woj Bomb cratering my soul as a fan that has been bombed more than Baghdad.
But it truly is a good thing looking back. Can you imagine if everything that happened with the Nets over the last four years happened with the Knicks? It would've somehow been the biggest shitshow in Knicks history, including Isiah Thomas' reign of terror, all of Phil Jackson's bullshit, and every bit of nonsense this fucking donkey put us through by a wide margin.
Instead it happened in Brooklyn, which just led to a few LOLs and 1/100th the coverage the Knicks would have gotten as they went from a Big 3 to Mikal Bridges, Ben Simmons, and some draft picks for the guys who begged to leave BK. Not only that, but landing KD would have definitely given Steve Mills at least another decade to ruin the Knicks with Dolan meddling instead of Leon Rose painting a roster masterpiece for a Thibs system (if they ever fucking get healthy again) and a war chest of picks for the next superstar that demands to be traded. Yup, it's time for the picture.
As for the Knicks not being cool, KD is right. The Knicks weren't cool at the time. But once they had someone to lead them back to competitiveness, they instantly became the coolest and most beloved team in the biggest city in the country because they are the only team that everyone here rallies around (outside of the 26 Nets fans).
KD wouldn't know about leading the Knicks back because as Charles Barkley said, he is more of a follower than a leader, and even his following skills need work considering he chose to follow KYRIE IRVING of all people. But that's fine because the Knicks now have that took on the challenge of playing at MSG instead of going to MSG Lite and being pretty much irrelevant in the New York despite having the most talent the city has seen in decades.
So yeah, in a crazy fucked up way, KD ignoring his agent 's and dad 's wishes to join the Knicks somehow is the best thing to happen to the Knicks in a long time. Because if he comes here, there is no Leon Rose, no Jalen Brunson, and most importantly no YO KD DONT YOU REGRET NOT COMING TO THE KNIIIIIICKS GUY.
