 We're excited that Rich Kleinman has joined us here in studio on the Michael K show and I've been calling him Kevin Durant's agent and You know we were talking as he sat down and rich. I want to tell you this story my late agent the first agent ever had and I would introduce people is my agent Steve Lefkowitz and he would go his friend Steve Lefkowitz I said really I don't pay all my friends 4% You paid him only four. Well, I was maybe four or five My diversity wouldn't go up an agent for 4% either What do you I mean? What do you prefer to be like friend to but I mean I feel like there's like this unfair Connotation lately behind the word agent for some reason. I always just felt uncomfortable with it You know like I I manage his career. We were business partners. I mean I'm his agent. I'm cool with that I just like if we're gonna be technical I figured I would just correct it Yeah, absolutely not rap or manager or business partner. Let's go a manager today Now manager manager, but you guys also share business. We share business. Yeah, which business? We have a company 35 ventures together and I manage him as well though. What is 35 ventures in tail? 35 ventures in tails. It's kind of become like the umbrella for our entire Business our enterprise our business interest So we have our media through there the boardroom and a few of other shows all of our tech investing Our brand work. We've a pretty robust foundation. We run under there. That's based out of Prince George's County where Kevin's from But but still the company there's a staff of like 15 the company also manages Kevin Durant's day-to-day life and day-to-day business. So We'll go with manager today. All right, so let's start with the question the white elephant in the room, okay? I don't even know how to feel about it rich That's why I'm so frustrated because I think it's cool that he engages on Twitter because we want our guys to be out There we want them to talk. Yeah, but I almost think that sometimes he's lowering himself by doing that What are your thoughts on his Twitter feuds that he has? Yeah, well, I mean my thoughts are that like it's kind of as in line with today's day is Anything else like the way I look at it is people always say to me like why is Kevin stooping to this level? Or why is Kevin engaging and my feeling is that like We all are Part of this epidemic right now. We're all on social media and some respect or some fashion We're all getting our information from it. Kevin is not affected by any of this Kevin is not up in arms over the comments He's reading Kevin is engaging and interacting like he's told all of you He's been doing for years like he enjoys doing it's entertainment for him truly and I think there's some that's No, no, this is a real radio. I thought it was hot 97 There So there's stuff there's stuff that like I think is ridiculous like I think the thing last night was ridiculous But in general Him answering For perk even speaking on him like at what point is Like Kevin's body of work and him as a basketball player Gonna be crystal clear to people that need to judge certain accolades or certain routes in which he took in their minds Like I just think Perk shouldn't be speaking on him Perk knows What kind of person Katie is Kirk Perk knows what kind of player Katie is Perk was there for and he also knows what kind of friend Katie's been to him You know what I mean? So I think it was ridiculous that he would speak on him to be honest like and I know that he didn't really like offer up Katie first he was talking but when he made that statement isn't that the point that I like Perk a lot But isn't that the point of the statement to point out the Russell Westbrook if you missed the statement that Russell Westbrook was the best player to ever Go through Oklahoma City. Yeah, isn't that it's inherently a shot? That's the interesting part, right? Well, it was inherently just pointless because it was Russell's night he deserved all the attention last night and That statement was probably said for no other reason but for what just ensued for more people to watch Perk on TV More people to click on on his Instagram or his Twitter page And there's some people that should be off limits from that and Perk knows that Perk knows that and Perk knows that KD Is like he's a made man now and I feel like all that same kind of Rhetoric about the route he took is like he's it's silly at this point Let's let's try to go to the foundation of why some people have the opinions that they do on KD on Twitter Yeah, and there's two of them really, you know the burner accounts and Him getting a headline changed in Oklahoma City I mean is it fair that those those two aspects kind of get people to say well He's sensitive begin with that's why he's going after people on Twitter because he can't handle the criticism No, is that is that a fair foundation? Let's just look at the the changing of the headline Is that is that a fact and is that something that I think people? I think having a burner account was like just mind-blowing to people and brand-new at the time But ask Rosenberg how many people in in in music and in the culture and hip-hop in basketball have burner accounts all of them Now KD really understands that this is like a sign of the times. I think he owned it I think that that was an odd situation at the time because people like it was new the way people reacting But Kevin owned it and I I understand Why like one's first reaction years ago when Kevin started this was like why are you stooping to this level? Or I see so many people worry about like Kevin's mind state It's it's silly to me like he performs at such a high level every single time he plays basketball He's proven on every court He's walked on that there is no player that he's inferior to like he's he's stood the test that have come to him And for me it was like yeah, Kevin is a sign of today. This is what it is like he is on social media That's what we do That's the the world we live in Kevin enjoys that banter and the people that go back and forth with him while they're insulting him They enjoy it and the people that cover it the next day. They enjoy it and all of us enjoy the headline in Oklahoma City though Which headline like no no years ago. You're unreliable. Yeah, yeah, but I mean but that that didn't affect him at all I mean I think he put up 40 the next day in the playoff game like that's the same thing you'd get in any city That was just it was brand new because it was like Sacrilegious to disrespect him at that time in Oklahoma City and that article just came out of nowhere some journalist If somebody in this business though, like a Kendrick Perkins type. Yeah clap that me Okay, and I really took offense to it. I pick up the phone and go. What are you doing? Why didn't he do that? Why does he have to make it public? Why air your laundry like that? Again because like well first of all I Think a lot of this is like there's no rules to social media And there's no rules to the way people engage in this climate We're in and you wouldn't do it because you probably necessarily and grow up on social media the way Kevin has right you don't Communicate with your fans the way Kevin does it's like in one hand We ask people to show so much of themselves on social media to promote their products Let us into their life to talk to them about behind the scenes photos everything that we Consume then when Kevin wants to have real-life dialogue back and forth with someone who started the dialogue on that forum People think it's ridiculous. Here's here's my take what gets me confused You know we use this line from Mike Greenberg who said was was against Kevin going on Twitter against Brandon Tierney He said Kevin Durant is in the clubhouse. He just had an eagle on 18. He's got the lead. He's one in life Why white white white shoot down? Why yeah, but here's the thing if if I called Kevin this morning, and he was like rich I can't Sorry, it's okay. This is tough like and I saw him affected by it in real life Mm-hmm. I would have a real-life conversation like why are you even sure and I'm sure you've dealt with artists By the way who have been that way yeah who were really couldn't handle it and I really struggled with it 1,000% but when I tell you that like Kevin completely separates these two things and I Understand why Mike Greenberg would say that understand why somebody that just wouldn't know I might say that I didn't grow up with this Yeah, and it's like it's so foreign to him to think about interacting with another athlete or another person But listen, there's a layer of it. That's entertainment for sure, right? There's a layer of it that like we all know we don't even know who's real or not on social media anymore We don't even know if the the cars that they're showing and the family they're showing is even theirs anymore No one knows so all of it is sprinkled in with a little bit of entertainment a little bit of like manufactured Just bored is this why he's doing nice that board he like again like I look at it as most people of his generation are on their phone the majority of the time there's apps They're using their social media properties. They're on there's businesses that they're analyzing up there's on there There's business partners are talking to women. They're talking to friends are talking to everything is on your phone Right. So if Kevin is on social media and somebody he knows especially well It's just pointlessly taking a gratuitous like little pot shot. He doesn't care He really doesn't care that's important to find out and that's why we had you on yeah Because the perception is that he does care otherwise he wouldn't engage But you telling us that he does it kind of just for entertainment Then that that changes it because this is what's so interesting about social media Michael and I are in social media And you're on social media Peters on social media, but we're all we're not on the all the same level I didn't grow up. Yeah, so my perception of going back at somebody is not that they're bored or entertaining They're just they're sensitive, but that they may not necessarily be the case if I do it I'm probably sensitive because I didn't grow up with it. Yeah, but when you grow up with it You're gonna use it differently than we use it. Yeah. Yeah, but look I'll put it this way He's not trying to entertain anybody else when I say it's right now It's that like that is in a lot of ways how people communicate and Kevin Durant is no different and I think that he really tries very hard to make it clear that like he Finds himself in those communities and there's a very safe place in a lot of ways to just be able to communicate We want another to be able to talk freely wearing a lot of times in his life He can't be able to just say directly what's on his mind being able to call perk while he's on TV All that is pointless and I think at the end of the day I don't even think perks should have been speaking on Kevin and that's exactly what the tweet was right like I don't think he Should have been speaking on Kevin I don't think Kevin's game should be spoken about by perk at this point And I think Russ's night should have been left alone and if you look at what Kevin writes back He writes things like you average three and two Back you know when you go to sleep at night, you're not really a champ. It's the weakest move now again I don't think it effect. I know it doesn't affect Kevin at all, but I just think that that was ridiculous But it's cool like it's all part of it I don't think Kevin's probably been thinking about it this afternoon And maybe there'll be another one tomorrow and the Brandon Tierney thing was funny, too Yeah, I thought the Brandon Tierney back for was good I've had no problem with what Kevin's done over the last few days I think it's been especially cuz I liked particularly him defending the nets as a team I thought that was actually a good way to ingratiate himself to a new fan base But a fan base that he did not ingratiate himself to was the Nick fan base when he came on he brought the morning We had him on and he said he did not believe the Knicks were a destination still in the NBA. You are a blue and orange Bleeding Nick fan for life. How do you see the Knicks organization right now? Versus how your client Kevin Durant sees them. I personally will forever think the Knicks are cool I think Madison Square Garden is cool. I Have always been a fan of the energy in there and some of the greatest moments of my entire life That I'll remember forever where when the Knicks were competing at the highest level and playing the Bulls and Pacers and Heed and All those play of series to find my childhood to me, but I wasn't a free agent You know, and it's like any other business transaction or business move that you you put in front of somebody What each situation comes with and what the benefits are and if somebody's looking for something in one of those situations That's where they go. The idea that like the Knicks are no longer in Attractive place to play. I don't agree with I think that there's a certain attention that they've gotten for a long time now Deservedly not deservedly at different times for different reasons the Knicks have been bad And there's been things that have brought unwarranted attention to the organization and warranted at times, right? But the Knicks are cool and Kevin knows I feel that way but like I think that Kevin was representing an overall consensus from a non-New Yorker perspective of What do the Knicks do to the layman to draw them in and it's not just like the Knicks in the bright lights now that they Can say it's not just that there's more to it. There's teams that are on national TV all year long There's proven track record of players playing in secondary markets making big business decisions and having big business I think what Kevin was basically saying was like that's not enough that's not enough to young players anymore to just like sell them on that and That is true, but I still think the Knicks are an incredible Destination and I still think the Knicks are an incredible team in place to play Let me throw this at you rich because it seems to be you know kind of thought and nobody ever really says it Did Kevin Durant not go to the Knicks because of Jim Dolan did he think that Jim Dolan is not a guy he wanted to play for no Do players think like that Jim Dolan is the reason I don't want to go to the Knicks. No, so why didn't Kevin go to the Knicks? What is there a specific reason? No But why did he go to the Knicks? This is where he wanted to play but he would have been in New York If he played for the Knicks and at Madison Square Garden rather than Barclay Center So yeah, I know but when when a decision is made To go do something in your life and to go play for an organization The different components to go into the decision when we as fans talk about it We stop at like one or two and those are like this would be so crazy He would resurrect a franchise. This is the greatest place to play None of that though comes into the thinking of somebody with that kind of resume and with that kind of mind And the what he looks for to make himself happy and the different things that he saw with the situation in Brooklyn We're just a better decision for him I think that it was just one of those situations where it was like somehow the narrative in the story had been created a lot of people think it was for Reasons that came from our side or people think it was reasons that came from like these behind-the-scenes Conversations and all of that is as ridiculous as any other headline that you read in the paper that people like try to create a narrative with the the truth is is The Knicks were a team that had cap space at the same time that the Nets were a team that had cap space and When Kevin looked at the landscape two of the teams that were in the kind of Opportunity zone first to say of where he could go happened to be both in New York And that created a lot of that kind of back and forth But the truth was Kevin saw the Nets is the best you try to convince them I because you are such a big Nick fan. Did you say Kevin go to the Knicks? I mean you again. You're just his manager. Yeah, but you can't make him do it. No, exactly Did you see we asked me real? Yeah, we had real conversations? We had real conversations at times about how I felt about what that opportunity Resurrected itself, but like at the same time I also know him and I'm also respectful of our partnership and I also present facts You know, I mean like it's my job to not get caught up in all that present facts But you're also talking about somebody that's performed at the highest level for so long has seen the league Way more than I have and has understood the ins and outs of the league that I can present it with that information and those facts But ultimately like he knows the best situation for himself And I think that that is somehow like really diminished in these conversations It's like idea like when one hand you see how players are Taking control of their brand taking control of their business They're empowering their situations to be where they want to be and then they say how could you let so-and-so go there like Kevin Durant makes he is the CEO of his own organization and his enterprise and he makes those decisions I present the facts and I give opinion, but at the end of the day he made the best decision How much do you think I replayed into the decision I? Mean I think that the two of them are friends the two of them wanted to play together And the two of them shared information that they had and that was proprietary to them You know I'm saying like they really they spoke about that together because there's a certain Connection and bond that the two of them as basketball players can understand when you're making a decision when you've won championships And you're making a decision at a certain point in your career where the things that you're looking for there's nothing that I could Really say to him that I could give a real Understanding to what it was that they were looking for right so I think that Kyrie played a part in it that they were friends And they communicated I think ultimately if it wasn't the right decision for any one of them individually They weren't gonna go somewhere because of the other person But I mean I think that all of these things play a part in the decision Just like it would for any decision any of us would make in our life or business like there is no one thing and it Definitely wouldn't be like you should go here because it's this arena or because this like Not at that level. No now. Do you believe that Kevin Durant is going to be Kevin Durant when he comes back? Yeah, and do you think there's a chance of come back this year? I don't know Honestly like again, this is like one of those things where like as a fan I would have thought the same thing like that there was this like calendar in front of us And we were all having these powwows, but he's just attacking his rehab like he attacks everything else I could see how intense he is about his recovery and his rehab and I don't want to disturb that and it's truly been day-to-day because You know, there's no expectation on him from anybody. There's no pressure on him from anybody's no expectation on himself He's just truly taking it day-to-day And I think after what happened and all the pressure around the summer in the situation He should take it day-to-day and he should just work How how happy for you personally and your wife and your kids how nice is it that he's in Brooklyn? You've been with him his whole career. You're not his whole career or not his whole career a lot of his career You were spending time in okc. Yeah, and then going to the Bay. Yeah all far away. This has been your home forever Yeah, how nice is it to just have him in Brooklyn? Incredible it's incredible to not travel as much. I'm like a born and bred New Yorker and I'm was never gonna leave New York I didn't move out of New York, but I spent a lot of time In the Bay more than I did when he was in Oklahoma City But that was also like the period in which our business Started to evolve and grow and I loved it there like I did love traveling, but I think wife and kids are happier I think I mean, but I think they look at me sometimes like they're cool if I try I think they may want me to Travel a little bit to be honest get you out of the house. Yeah, like all or nothing is a lot a lot of the narrative we're talking with rich climbing the Partner manager representative of Kevin Duran's a lot of people said the narrative out there rich is that He wanted a softer landing He didn't want the pressure of putting the whole mix on his back less intensity less media scrutiny any of that true No, none of that. No, I mean, I think again It's more about you add all the different ingredients with each situation And they all come to whether it's the right situation for you So no no way was he avoiding like pressure? I mean, that's the irony to me of the decision to play for the Warriors like To me that was his pressure filled as possible, you know Kevin was gonna like nothing about playing with that team, which was incredible made him Kevin Durant or allowed him to be a championship caliber player or allowed him to be an MVP caliber player He was that already so he went into a situation where unanimously everybody hated him Unanimously everybody questioned it and he had to go there and he had to finish his breakfast There was he couldn't do anything but win a championship And then you know what he actually had to win the MVP and then he actually had to win a championship again Then he actually had to win the MVP again And he actually had to get hurt on the main stage the NBA finals for people to really then start to even change the narrative a little bit And that pressure is that's the pressure. What what pressure in New York could have been more than that Was he done wrong rich? When he played should he had not have played was he forced to play by the Warriors? No Where did that narrative come from that the same narrative of all the other things we're talking about though That's the word narrative and it didn't come from it didn't come from Anyone in the Warriors organization. It definitely didn't come from anyone within our group and organization I think Kevin has said it over and over again and at times I almost fell bad for some of the individuals that he was so close with who were getting some of that heat But no not at all. He made that decision. You know what bothered me the most and it was for you I forget who it was. I think it was an agent who like said something about you if I was his agent I wouldn't have let him play. Yeah, you could my friend. That was my friend said, yeah But I could you tell Kevin Durant not to play Kevin Durant has to play if he wants to play so let's talk about it That's probably the same thing maybe not you but it's no different than people saying to me How could you let him go to the Nets and not the Knicks all of that is so insulting in a lot of ways Some so these players right Babies yeah, or that like and whatever agent said that I get it the intensity the next day I get all of it I don't take any of it personally and of course I'm sitting there beating myself up as if did I not do something or did I not say something But I but I quickly knew that wasn't true and Kevin such an incredible dude that like in the fire of all that He wanted to make it crystal clear to the people around him like I chose to do this I get it and he said that to everyone to think he was calming people down that night It was he was like the voice of reason for people. So I mean yeah, it's crazy Of course, I couldn't have like kept him or made him and that's just not the way people asked you what would you have said? Well, we did talk about it. Did he ask you should I play no not like directly like that? Yeah, well, I saw you I saw you that night though before the game. Yeah, and we were talking I was like so well, how does he feel like and you were like he feels great He feels ready to go. Yeah, and you seemed really upbeat not particularly nervous He seemed the same way so I'm guessing when you talked about it He told you he's a hundred percent fine or so we felt yeah, but it's not like This isn't like we're at gym class and we're like hey Kevin you feeling better come on to the court Like this is like multiple doctors looking at scans and x-rays multiple opinions a diligent warrior staff An athlete that knows his body and knows what he needs to do to perform at a certain level and honestly like he would have Destroyed if he didn't play he was already getting destroyed for Whatever narrative was being created that he was avoiding playing because he was leaving the bottom line is this he is he has an amazing ability To stay laser focused and when you simplify things at times and he's like I'm a Hooper. I'm a ball player I play ball I play on every stage possible roll out the ball. I'm gonna play with everybody. I'm clear to play I feel good. I'm playing basketball now. You said that you take some phone calls. You sure you want to do this Yeah, all right 1-800-919-3776. We're talking with rich climb and now you can as well You have the number. What are your thoughts nick fans net fans? He'll answer any question you have and that's coming up in just a second Peter No, but you just look at it. Maybe I'm just like me or I'm just looking you with a face that says look at the guests I delivered today. What a tremendous front tremendous Friday show this you must be double-jointed hit yourself on the back like that I will be back in just a moment on yesterday