A born and bred New Yorker, Rich Kleiman is NBA superstar Kevin Durant’s manager as well as co-founder and business partner in Thirty Five Ventures — which incorporates Durant’s personal brand/marketing portfolio and on-court contracts, their diverse investment portfolio, the emerging media and creative development arm, and the Kevin Durant Charity Foundation.

Q: You were in Toronto when KD tore his Achilles tendon. What were your immediate emotions?
A: I honestly was completely heartbroken for him personally. And then I realized I had to be there for him. He’s the strongest person in the room. He is always mentally equipped for any challenge, and I knew that I had to instantly step up to the challenge to be there for him, but I was heartbroken for him.

Q: What is his mindset right now?
A: He’s got a great perspective on life, and he’s got a great understanding of what each challenge is and how to get through it, and he’s as focused as he’s ever been.

Q: Would his makeup play in New York?
A: His makeup would play in any city in America.

Q: Tell me about his makeup.
A: He’s mentally stronger than anyone could ever imagine. He’s so focused and dedicated and committed to his craft and mastering his craft. He’s able to function at a very high level in any environment and under any circumstance. And he’s honest about his feelings, good or bad. He’s not scared to be vulnerable, and he’s the realist dude I’ve ever met. So he can function in any single environment. … Everyone would like him.

Q: He’ll be 32 years old before he’s back on the court. Why shouldn’t that scare teams away?
A: I don’t think it should be a thought. He’ll work harder than anybody to get back. He’ll be better than ever. This is what he does.

Q: History doesn’t tell us he’ll be better than ever.
A: Everything’s he’s done to this point — history never had a 6-foot-10 point guard who can do what he did — not a point guard, but point guard skills. So I expect nothing but 110 percent. Nobody should. I haven’t even questioned that. It’s not even a thought.

Q: Owners will, right?
A: I haven’t gotten any inkling about that. And he’s Kevin Durant, and no one should be worried.

Q:When you wake up Sunday morning, will Kevin know what he’s doing?
A: While I’m doing this interview, Kevin is completely undecided in figuring out what he wants to do.

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Q: When you wake up on Sunday, what might your emotions be?
A: My emotions will be: Let’s have fun, and let’s make sure that Kevin does exactly what he wants and makes the best decision for himself and his happiness. That is gonna be my mindset.

Q: Who will be there with you and him on Sunday?
A: Kevin’s family and two of our closest confidantes and friends, Randy Williams and Devonte Young.

Q: Only phone calls with teams Sunday?
A: Don’t know yet. Figuring it all out. It’s fluid.

Q: How quickly do you expect a decision?
A: My only timeline is to work on when Kevin’s ready to go. If it takes two days, it takes two days.

Q: Will you be ordering food in?
A: Postmates. It’s a food delivery service, it’s been around for years, and we invested in it when he was in Oklahoma City, and they’re based in San Francisco.

Q: What kind of feedback does KD get when he’s scooting around the city?
A: Everybody has something to say. They love him, they support him, they tell him what teams they want him to go to or they just say “feel better.” It’s been all love. There’s Knicks and Nets fans, there’s Warrior fans that come up to him in the city.

Q: Sum up what you would want for KD as far as city, team, etc.
A: All I want for Kevin is Kevin to be able to be in a place where he can continue to master his craft, where he can enjoy going to work, and where he can play basketball at a very high level and enjoy what he’s doing. There’s so many different narratives and so many different storylines that come into play, and I understand why everybody gets caught up in it. I’m a human being, I get caught up in it, too. But at the end of the day, I am focused on what my job is, and that is the only mandate that as Kevin’s manager and business partner that I have for myself is to make sure that I’m able to help Kevin get to a place to be able to achieve all those things.

Q: Where does winning fit in?
A: Winning is a major part of everything. I mean, that’s why you do what you do. … Winning brings upon a lot of fun and happiness as well, it’s all very intertwined. When you’re a player like Kevin’s caliber, you expect to win whenever you get on the floor.

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Q: Why do you think you and KD click?
A: Because we trust each other 1,000 percent.

Q: Why do you think there’s so much trust between the two of you?
A: He shows up, and works harder than anyone I’ve ever met, and I thought it was my job to show him the same commitment across the board from Day 1. So, I think he saw that in me and saw that that was genuine, and over time you grow a trust. Aside from business, we have been close friends for over 10 years.

Q: What makes KD so marketable?
A: I think he’s honest, I think he’s real, I think he’s vulnerable, I think he’s unique, I think he’s comfortable making mistakes and learning from them, I think he’s comfortable owning them, and I think that a lot of fans have grown up with him and seen different phases of his life and seen how he’s overcome challenges and persevered and stayed himself through it all. And I think people really appreciate the fact that come rain or shine, Kevin Durant stays himself, he shows up, he handles his business, puts 35 on you — points, not the jersey (smile) — and after a while, people can really appreciate that consistency and that realness.

Q: What was about Kevin that convinced you to put all your eggs in his basket?
A: He believed in me 100 percent. We shared a lot of the same principles, we shared a lot of the same interests, and we were both excited for the ride we were gonna take together, and we enjoy each other’s company in building a business together, and it wasn’t even a question. And to me he’s one of the two greatest basketball players in the world. He’s gonna end up one of the five greatest basketball players ever in my opinion. This is a dream job for me.

Q: He was slammed for leaving the Thunder and joining the Warriors.
A: We all understood that that was part of the decision, but when you make a decision, a grown man-decision that’s best for you, and was ultimately the right decision, you’re comfortable with what comes with it.

Q: You’ve been a Knicks fan most of your life, right?
A: I’m a Knick fan. I grew up in New York City [Upper West Side’], but I’m a fan of whatever team KD’s on. My No. 1 team in New York City is the Giants … and St. John’s. I’m a big-time Met fan and I have a lot of respect for Brodie [Van Wagenen, GM].

Q: What prompted you once to tweet: “Imma run the Knicks one day?”
A: I thought it in my head for one second. I was away on vacation after All-Star weekend, and I was with my family and tweeted it. It was stupid.

Q: How often did you go to the Garden as a kid?
A: I went to the Garden a lot. I was a big Ranger fan, big-time St. John’s fan, big Knick fan. … I can’t really do justice to how much I loved Mark Jackson as a kid. That whole era of the Knicks in the ’90s was an incredible time to be at the Garden — whether it was a Ranger game, a Knick game, a St.John’s game. I root for all New York sports teams — Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Mets, Giants, Jets, I really do.

Q: Do you remember the first Knicks game you attended?
A: 1984. It was Marvin Webster, Ken Bannister, Louis Orr, Rory Sparrow, Darrell Walker. And I think they played the Bucks. I also went to one of the games Bernard King had 40 at half when I was 8 and he ended up with 60 versus the Nets.

Q: You must have been ecstatic when then-GM Dave DeBusschere won the lottery in 1985 for Patrick Ewing.
A: Yeah, but I loved St. John’s so much, I was like, “Ah, this guy from Georgetown.” But I instantly obviously fell in love with Patrick Ewing, everyone did.

Q: You’re not happy with Giants GM Dave Gettleman.
A: I don’t know Dave Gettleman. I’m not not happy with him, I just love Odell Beckham Jr. I personally just thought that when you have somebody that is so unique and such a hard worker and never put anything above his skill and never put anything above his craft and never put anything above his teammates, in my opinion? All the other stuff, like c’mon, you gotta roll up your sleeves and figure out. I’m a Giant fan for life, and I’m a big Daniel Jones fan now just because I ride with the Giants.

Q: What did you think of the Knicks drafting RJ Barrett?
A: I thought it was awesome, I got to meet him when I filmed an episode of [ESPN’s] “The Boardroom.” He was an amazing guy. Wise beyond his years.

Q: Why did “The Boardroom” become such a big priority for your company?
A: We created a brand that, in my opinion, completely exemplifies the intersection of sports, business, tech and culture.

Q: What are “Q Ball” and “Swagger”?
A: “Q Ball” is a documentary we did on Fox. It’s about the San Quentin Warriors, which is the basketball team inside the prison walls of San Quentin. It’s a pretty incredible story. “Swagger” is a project that Kevin and I partnered with Apple and Imagine Entertainment. In its simplest form, what we hope is a “Friday Night Lights”-type series that is loosely based on the AAU scene in Prince George’s county and Kevin’s childhood, but is taking place in modern day. We’ll tell the stories of kind of the game-within-the-game of AAU basketball and the world within AAU basketball. I think it’s gonna be incredibly, incredibly impactful. We have some incredible actors and actresses that have signed on, and it’s a really, really important project for us.

Q: Who was your boyhood idol?
A: Mark Jackson. I watched him at St. John’s, and I watched him in New York. He was a Rookie of the Year and an All-Star. His rookie year, I remember there was an article that said, “Would you trade Mark Jackson for Magic Johnson?” That’s how big he was in New York City during those two years. … Then for the rest of his career I followed him in Indiana, with the Clippers, in Utah, in Houston, in Denver and all 8,000 teams he played for, and I’ve become very, very close friends with him to this day.

Q: Anyone else?
A: I loved Isiah Thomas. I loved that Mavericks team with Ron Harper, Roy Tarpley, Rolando Blackmon. I liked Mark Aguirre. I liked that team a lot. Anything I was going through in life, I was able to release through just being an NBA ’80s-’90s junkie.

Q: What kind of a player were you in at Fieldston HS?
A: Overrated (smile). I’ve looked back on myself now and realize that a lot of it was in my head. I was a really good shooter, I was really a smart player, athletically I was challenged. … My sneakers were fresh, though (smile). I always wore the Air Revolutions ’cause that’s what Mark Jackson wore.

Q: You sold your toys as a kid to make money?
A: I used to wait outside on the street and sell anything that I had — toys, team yearbooks or media guides, I would add some lemonade or like fruit punch to it. But I would just buy toys and then figure out the best way to kind of go outside and accessorize them and sell them, and if everybody was into G.I. Joe, I would just sell my G.I.Joe.

Q: What drove you as a boy?
A: I loved the energy and excitement around sports. It instantly connected with me, whether I needed to be in the arena, whether I needed to be watching it with my family and around a group of people or playing it. I got similar feelings I think as a kid when I was able to do things that, looking back on it, were entrepreneurial. And I guess that’s why I’m so obsessed with the idea of sports and business. I even started a business when I was 8 years old called Lawyer Kid, which is I wanted to represent other kids with their parents, so I’d be the lawyer to kids. The idea was that I felt like if I had to get across my point so well to my parents, I could always sell my story, that I could help other kids. That one never got off the ground, but that feeling, that emotion, that exhilaration of creating a big business card, and calling and presenting my company to my parents — like going in the room, “Now today I’m Lawyer Kid.” Or one day I wanted to be a strong safety, I decided I want to be Kenny Easley. I want to be a running back, I want to be Craig James. I would switch up and then go in there and be like, “Today I’m gonna be this guy.”

Q: B.C. night school after a year at Boston University.
A: College wasn’t for me (smile).

Q: How long were you a bookie?
A: Too long. That’s where I probably got off the tracks for a second and that same exhilarating feeling that I got from business and sports and all that stuff, when you’re in college, you can go down the wrong path at times. I definitely learned incredible principles about money and management and business, but it’s not something that I’m proud that I did, but it’s just part of my journey.

Q: Who were your biggest career influences?
A: Jay-Z; Mark Ronson and Kevin.

Q: Five dinner guests?
A: Steve Jobs, Barack Obama, my wife and daughters.

Q: Why Steve Jobs?
A: The fact that he was able to envision and be a part of leading the creation of what everybody in our world has in their hand, and the simplicity of how he envisioned these devices being in our lives. I need to understand when before this existed, what were the conversations? And what did he envision? Did he envision this this big? Barack Obama, I want to be around him and just take in the coolness, the intelligence, the sophistication and the fact that he’s just one of the most special human beings that’s ever lived on this planet and to just be around him. And then I would never want to share anything that great without my wife and kids with me.

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Q: Favorite movie?
A: “Casino.”

Q: Favorite actor?
A: Robert De Niro.

Q: Favorite actress?
A: The woman [Maggie Siff] who plays Wendy Rhoades on “Billions.”

Q: Favorite singer/entertainer?
A: Jay-Z.

Q: What’s your favorite KD moniker?
A: Easy Money.