The Boardroom CEO and long-time agent and friend of Kevin Durant pulled up to Reddit for an unfiltered question-and-answer session.
The average hoops fan has lots of questions about what it is like to be the agent of an NBA superstar. On Feb. 22, Rich Kleiman pulled up to a Reddit AMA session to answer a wide range of fan questions.
Kleiman linked up with Kevin Durant through their mutual friend Wale back in 2008. To that point, he’d spent the majority of his career working in the music industry, but he instantly clicked with Durant. Many years later, they’ve lined up an endless set of stories as Durant has become one of the most formidable players to ever step onto the court. Plus, the two have partnered on a wide range of off-court ventures.
The AMA came on the heels of Boardroom’s most recent Cover Story sit-down between KD and Kleiman. The two looked back on Durant’s decorated career, his hopes for his continued involvement in the league even beyond retirement, and so much more.
Below are some of the answers and questions that stuck out most from Rich’s AMA session with Reddit. (Editor’s note: Answers have been edited for clarity and length.)
Q: Someone’s gotta ask. Is it true Steve Ballmer cried in the meeting with KD back in 2016. If so, how did that meeting go down?
RK: No, he did not cry. And the meeting went well. Lawrence Frank & Steve Ballmer remain friends with Kevin and I to this day.
Q: Any interesting stories around the time that KD went to the Warriors? Was there any back and forth on a decision, or was it pretty adamant at that point that KD would be leaving?
RK: The entire story around our free agency was interesting. Kevin went into the 3 days in the Hamptons with an open mind, especially as it pertains to the Thunder. And some people that came in to see us were some of the greatest minds in NBA history like Gregg Popovich and Pat Riley, so he truly honored the process. It was an incredibly grueling decision for Kevin. One that kept Kevin up the entire night until he made the decision the morning of July 4.
Side note — the house we rented had a grass tennis court, and Kevin and I played doubles against some people who were staying with us for the weekend. KD is not quite the tennis player I am.
Q: What were the conversations around his injury ahead of the Achilles tear? I ask because I recall watching one of the talking heads on ESPN say ahead of time that KD shouldn’t play with the injury because he could hurt himself even worse, and then bam! Did you know that it was a risk, and he still rolled the dice to win another chip?
RK: After Kevin tore his Achilles, we went to NY, where one of his friends from his childhood was waiting for us. The first thing his friend said when he saw him was, “I knew you were going to play even if your leg was hanging off.” That’s my answer.
Q: If you watch basketball games, do you find that you end up thinking a lot about contracts (maybe daydreaming about drawing up an extension for XYZ player on the floor after they do something impressive), or is there a substantial wall between these two aspects of basketball of your life?
I guess I’m asking if watching basketball is inextricably linked to being an agent for you.
RK: The experience of being a basketball fan has for sure changed over the last 12 years that I have been working in sports. However, I am able to still separate how much I love the game of basketball and love watching basketball from the business aspect of it. It has very little to do with contracts and, more, being hyper-aware of what’s going on in the arena, who’s sitting on the floor, and what players to look out for, but not where I am thinking in terms of transactions.
Q: What’s KD’s favorite thing to do, or his other strongest passion, outside of hooping, especially this year? :-). Any pet projects he’s working on outside of basketball?
RK: Music, gaming, his family, and his business.
Q: Rich, would you rather fight:
- One KD-sized duck; or
- One hundred duck-sized KDs?
RK: I don’t have the energy to fight 100 of anything, so I think I’ll take the 1 KD-sized duck. Very good question.
Q: Yo Rich, don’t you regret KD not signing with the Knicksssss??!
RK: I hate to shamelessly plug, but it’s all in the interview I just did with Kevin.
Visit the full conversation on r/NBA.
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