So when Durant sat down with Bill Simmons for a podcast after the Warriors beat the shorthanded Chicago Bulls this week, it was only natural that he reiterated that stance. But KD was increasingly open and frank during the nearly 80-minute podcast, discussing a myriad of topics from his role on the Warriors, to the 10 best athletes of all time, and a ton of random discussion about LeBron James.
But when it came time to talk about his decision last summer, though he has grown tired of discussing it, he did open up about the entire process, with the help of his agent Rich Kleiman, who oddly poked in two-thirds of the way into the interview.
It was then, with Kleiman now firmly entrenched into the conversation that they dropped a random nugget about how Jay Z was a part of the decision making. With Durant having infamously signing to Roc Nation Sports in 2013, reportedly to help build his brand, it’s no shocker to hear that Jay was an influence on the biggest business decision of Durant’s life and of their partnership. What is interesting, however, is finding out what his role in the process was exactly.
Rich Kleiman: My best friend moved from New York to Los Angeles and he’s making more money now than when he lived in New York, by I wasn’t like ‘Yo, how you going to leave me in New York man and move to LA when you can make more money in LA.’ He just did what the right thing was. I know it sounds crazy, but that’s really how practical we were about it. You know, somebody — I’m not name dropping at all but — Jay Z was like the king of pra-
Bill Simmons: That’s phenomenal.
Kevin Durant: You are name dropping bro.
BS: I love that. ‘I’m not name dropping at all but Jay Z…’
RK: You know what, f*ck it. If he’s one of your best friends, I mean, he’s Jay Z, you’ve got to name drop him. He was like the king of practicality to us. We would call him in the middle of it, (Durant: Yeah) and we would ask him these questions that would make our minds spin, and he would answer it so matter-of-factly that we were like ‘Damn, you’re right it is that simple.’ It’s that simple sometimes
KD: Life is simple man.
Simmons later awed at the entire situation, saying, “Jay Z just comes floating in like Confucius and drops little fortune cookies during this process?” Durant then decided to make it clear that Jay did not tell him to go anywhere, just offered advice as someone who is successful for general advice, and part of him looking for advice from “people that have actually made big decisions in their lives.”
Source: DIME on UProxx