“Jokic, Giannis, and LeBron James!”: Kevin Durant’s Close Friend Snubs 2023 MVP While Listing Best Players in the NBA

Every few years, there are a couple of players who manage to leave their imprint on the NBA more than the other guys. It’s these who end up being called the faces of the generation. Ever since his arrival in 2003, LeBron James has been a consistent face of the NBA. When Kevin Durant got drafted, he immediately showed everyone what he could do, and made a case for becoming one of the best scorers we’ve ever seen. Then came along Stephen Curry, and now it’s almost time for the newer generation to take over. All of this left Rich Kleiman on the spot on All The Smoke.

Recently, KD’s close friend, Rich Kleiman, made his way to Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson’s podcast, All The Smoke. There Rich spilled the details about meeting Kevin Durant, talked about how Tom Brady influenced Durant’s move to the Warriors, and his plans with Durant for sports and the athletes. During that time, he was asked to name the best players in the NBA currently. It took him no time to list the top 3, but he ended up snubbing the MVP.

Rich Kleiman snubbed Joel Embiid, lists his Best 3 players in the Current NBA

Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman co-founded Boardroom and several other ventures together. They’ve been working together for the past decade and a half, and during that time, Kleiman has been closely associated with basketball and quite a few players. Recently they started working with WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu.

Just before he shared his plans for Boardroom, Rich was asked to name the best 3 players in the NBA currently, apart from Kevin Durant. Rich thought for a second and replied,

“Best three players? Jokic, Giannis, and Bron[LeBron James].”

Continuing, Rich talked about how he liked watching Devin Booker play and enjoys Nuggets basketball a lot.

To snub Joel Embiid right after his MVP campaign didn’t feel right to me. Maybe there is something deeper there for why Kleiman left the Sixers’ star off his list.

Kevin Durant ranked Kobe Bryant Top-2 in his list

Earlier this year, Kevin Durant sat down with Jamal Crawford, where they played word association. When asked about three different players, here’s what KD’s response was.

Crawford: Kobe

Durant: Top 2

Crawford: LeBron

Durant: The Greatest, The Most Accomplished

Crawford: Michael Jordan

Durant: The GOAT

It’s interesting to see how Durant sorted his legends. While it’s hard for KD to breach the Top-3 barrier, but with the years he has left, he can surely solidify a Top-10 spot for himself.