Kevin Durant's agent Rich Kleiman debunks hilarious Steve Ballmer urban legend about 2016 free agency

In 2016, Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant was a free agent and there were plenty of teams hoping he'd sign with them. One of the teams that were rumored with Durant was the LA Clippers. According to rumors, the meeting led to Clippers owner Steve Ballmer to tears.

The 14-time All-Star was coming off a year where he finished fifth in the MVP race. Durant averaged 28.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and five assists while he shot 50% from the field. Most of his fans thought he was returning to the OKC Thunder, but he met with different teams while he was a free agent.

Durant's agent, Rich Kleiman, clarified things about the rumored meeting between the star and the team. According to sources, the meeting featured Doc Rivers, who was the head coach at the time, Clippers' front office executives Lawrence Frank and Dave Wohl, and their frontcourt stars, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.

Kleiman addressed the rumor that Ballmer was moved to tears during the meeting in a reply to a comment on Reddit.

"No he did not cry. And the meeting went well. Lawrence Frank & Steve Ballmer remain friends with Kevin and I to this day," Kleiman commented.

Comment byu/Boardroom35 from discussion innba

There were several articles made about the meeting that Durant had with the Clippers. But given Kleiman's comments, it looked like the meeting wasn't convincing enough for the superstar to join them.

Much to everyone's surprise, Durant joined the Golden State Warriors, who had just won 73 games the season prior. The four-time scoring champion ended up winning his first two titles with the Warriors, earning the Finals MVP nod on both runs.

Even with that, fans question what the league would've looked like if Durant joined the Clippers in 2016.

You might also be interested in reading this: Is Kevin Durant playing tonight against the Dallas Mavericks? Latest on 14x All-Star's status (February 22)

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The Clippers weren't one of Kevin Durant's top choices in 2016

Kevin Durant was also being recruited by the Boston Celtics back in 2016. Being a high-profile player, it was a sure thing for him to receive plenty of offers from different organizations. However, Durant clarified that neither the Celtics nor the Clippers were one of his top choices at the time.

In 2018, he shared that the OKC Thunder was his second choice during the 2016 free agency.

"OKC," Durant said. "It wasn’t Golden State-Boston."

The Celtics claimed that they were Durant's second choice at that time, while the Clippers claimed the third spot. Unfortunately, their offers weren't convincing for the 2013-14 MVP to join their team.

Still, Durant changed the league when he joined the Warriors in 2016 and it was difficult for Thunder fans, and his past teammates, to move on from his departure.