Kevin Durant’s Agent ‘Not Surprised’ by Adam Silver’s $76 Billion Move Despite Charles Barkley TNT Betrayal

Adam Silver and the league are in mayhem after Warner Bros Discovery sued them more than a week ago, about a day after the league finalized the 11-year $76 Billion deal with Amazon, NBC, and Disney. Kevin Durant‘s agent, Rich Kleiman, has dropped another banger on the revolutionary deal. About one and a half months ago, Kevin and his agent interacted with the Wall Street Journal, citing the new NBA viewing rights deal as “incredible” and “part of evolution” while siding with Adam Silver’s decision.

However, fans are also about to lose their favorite show ‘Inside the NBA’ which has entertained the NBA fanatics for decades with hosts like Charles Barkley, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal. And as the league has finally surpassed their previous relationship with TNT, the media betrayal has not changed Durant’s 47-year-old 35V business partner’s stance at all.

As Boardroom founder and CEO Kleiman reached Paris to attend the Olympics, he recently appeared on ‘Squawk Box‘ to comment on his thoughts on the NBA media rights deal. Landing right off the plane, the CNBC host asked Kleiman if he expected TNT to be pushed to the curb. “I don’t want to talk about that side of it. But what I do think is exciting is just what the value of NBA rights, you know, and what the demand is. To see that schedule outline and knowing you can watch an NBA game now seven days a week.” The co-founder of Kevin Durant’s 35 Ventures seemed not surprised at the fact that the NBA actually landed a deal as he listed the advantages of the agreement.

Kevin Durant’s long-time agent stood away from the controversial side of it with all the lawsuit matter, and Charles Barkley‘s outrage on it. Rather, Kleiman continued with his singing his praise note as the conversation moved ahead, discussing the staggering $76 Billion number that the league signed. Reacting to it, Durant’s business partner added, “It’s staggering, but it’s not surprising. It’s in line what you see in terms of valuations of sports teams, with the price people are paying for it for them and when you see other leagues getting the numbers that they’re starting to get I think it was on par and appropriate.”

But that was not it; the conversation led to the global impact of the game as Kleiman jumped right onto it to support the league’s media globalization.

Kevin Durant’s agent thinks the global access with the new deal might “galvanize” the people of the world

As Rich Kleiman went on to side with Adam Silver on the staggering media rights deal, the host asked if the speculations of being on the top really hold in the real world that people claim for the league. It is also quite ironic since, despite its popularity, the NBA is not leading the charts since its revenue is about half of the highest-grossing sports league in the world, the NFL. The primary reason for such a shortcoming for the basketball league is the lack of revenue from ticket sales.

A major chunk of the NBA’s income comes from television rights, as people usually prefer to watch it from home. But the average attendance at an NFL game is 69,526, while it was just 18,315 for the NBA last season. However, Durant’s agent Kleiman had different thoughts about it as he explained, “Sports is probably the only universal thing that still is alive and we can all rally around. I think the price for that is obvious, when you see what the numbers are.”

It can only be concluded from Kevin Durant’s longtime friend and partner’s statement that they, the league members, are ready to move on from TNT. They have moved ahead in the process of marching up with the progressing world with their globalizing process. How will it turn out in the future? It will be worth watching.

Before you go, do not forget to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Silas Demary Jr.