“He Would Own That City”: Knicks Fan Stephen A. Smith Wonders What Could Have Been if Kevin Durant Played for New York

Kevin Durant spilled the beans on his free agency decision in 2019 in a Boardroom interview with his agent Rich Kleiman. A slew of franchises courted the former MVP after his contract with the Golden State Warriors expired. He eventually chose to join the Brooklyn Nets along with Kyrie Irving but revealed that his family wanted him to join their crosstown rivals, the New York Knicks.

On Monday’s episode of First Take, analyst and boyhood Knicks fan Stephen A. Smith painted a picture of life with Durant playing in New York. He said,

“Kevin Durant. Had he gone to the New York Knicks, he would own that city with his greatness at Madison Square Garden… He could have single-handedly changed the culture of the New York Knicks into what it is now if not better than that… There’s only one Kevin Durant. Lord have mercy. What might’ve been.”

“There’s only one Kevin Durant. Lord have mercy! What might have been.”

—@stephenasmith on how KD could have changed the Knicks’ culture ️ pic.twitter.com/PRrDILPywf

— First Take (@FirstTake) February 21, 2024

Smith noted that he is pleased with the direction the Knicks are heading in with Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle as the team’s faces. He credited the franchise for landing OG Anunoby and bolstering the defense and claimed to be excited about the team’s future for the first time since 1999. He admitted that the current roster isn’t equipped to win the championship, but the Knicks have enough draft capital to land a star or two and build a title-winning roster.

Smith is spot on. The Knicks are fourth in the East, only 1.5 behind the third-placed Milwaukee Bucks. They are heading in the right direction, while the Brooklyn Nets, who landed Durant and Irving in 2019, now have neither player on the roster and are staring at a rebuild. Eventually, not landing Durant did not prove disastrous for the Knicks.

Kevin Durant explains why he snubbed the Knicks for the Nets

During the 2019 offseason, the Knicks were rumored to be frontrunners to land Kevin Durant. However, he joined their crosstown rivals, the Brooklyn Nets, despite his agent’s insistence about heading to New York. During the Boardroom interview with Rich Kleiman, the two-time Finals MVP said,

“You (Kleiman) definitely did [push me to join the Knicks], you definitely did, more than anything… My dad, you, love the Knicks. My aunt loves the Knicks.”

Rich Kleiman: “Do me a favor, clear up something you said 5 years ago, and admit the Knicks are cool”

Kevin Durant: “At that time they weren’t, the Knicks weren’t cool ..but they are a cool brand. Like right now, they popin right now, last few years they’ve been playing well”… pic.twitter.com/o2o2PRj7qx

— KnicksNation (@KnicksNation) February 20, 2024

Durant explained that joining the Knicks would have done wonders for his brand value, but their roster wasn’t up to par. He said,

“The brand was cool, but at the time, I’m not looking at the cool brand outside of the game. I was looking at the team, and the [Knicks] was not cool to play for. The team was not cool to watch. It wasn’t a good team to watch.”

Durant spent three and a half tumultuous seasons in Brooklyn before leaving the franchise in February 2023 and joining the Phoenix Suns. Despite boasting of the former MVP, Irving, and James Harden, the Nets couldn’t reach the Conference Finals. Brooklyn’s superteam will remain the biggest ‘What Ifs’ in NBA history, while Knicks fans will ponder if things could have been different had Durant and Irving chosen New York in 2019.