Kevin Durant’s Business Partner Rich Kleiman Helped Convince Suns to Reject Very Real Warriors Trade

Look away, Golden State Warriors fans, this one isn’t pretty. There was a very real possibility of Kevin Durant returning to the Bay, but it got shut down. Plenty of rumors have swirled about this alternate reality, but now there is confirmation from Durant himself. The Phoenix Suns were close to pulling the trigger, but Durant’s business partner, Rich Kleiman, used his connections to convince the Warriors not to go ahead.

Rich Kleiman isn’t just Kevin Durant’s business partner; he is also the superstar’s agent. Everyone knows how the story unfolded. The Suns elected to keep Durant for the remainder of the 2024-25 season. It wasn’t until the same day as Game 1 of the NBA Finals that they agreed to send the 15-time All-Star to the Houston Rockets.

The two-time NBA champion is a fan of his new home. He comes in as a bona fide star, ready to help take the Rockets over the edge. However, he could’ve returned to the Golden State to win more titles alongside Stephen Curry. For most people, that would be a hard offer to refuse. But that is what makes Durant so special, he doesn’t operate like the rest of the world.

“I heard Golden State was in the mix around the trade deadline, but that’s when Rich came into play, and those relationships that we built around the league and also playing in Golden State helped,” Durant said at the Game Plan Sports Business Summit. “We were able to tell them kind of hold off on that.”

A player of the magnitude of Durant can’t be unaware of whether a team is shopping for him. He knew that the Suns had hopes of parting ways with him, which he came to terms with. However, that process wasn’t easy.

“Initially, I was a little upset because I felt like we built a solid relationship, me and the Phoenix Suns,” Durant said as CNBC and Boardroom hosted the summit event. “And to hear that from a different party was kind of upsetting, but that’s just the name of the game. So I got over that quickly and was trying to figure out what the next steps were.”

Although Durant was okay with looking for a new destination, he didn’t feel the Warriors were the right fit. Not because he held a grudge toward the team for how things ended, but the overall timing of a potential reunion.

“It was nothing against my time with the Warriors, or I heard it was because I don’t like Draymond [Green]. At the end of the day, I just didn’t want to move, and I wanted to see it through with my team in Phoenix and see what we could do for the rest of the season. So I’m glad I’m still there,” Durant said after the 2025 NBA trade deadline.

The timing with the Rockets turned out to be right, and now Durant will play in Houston for the 2025-26 season. It’s unfortunate since a Durant and Curry duo would’ve still proved to be a formidable pairing despite their age.