The lone blemish in another momentous and successful summer for Klutch Sports was the departure of newly signed New York Knicks forward Marcus Morris, who fired Klutch Sports leader Rich Paul as his agent.
Morris, who was coming off of a career season for the Boston Celtics entering free agency, reportedly turned down a 3-year $41 million deal from the Los Angeles Clippers before agreeing and then reneging on a deal with the San Antonio Spurs, before eventually signing with the Knicks to a one-year $15 million deal. But he wanted to make clear that passing on the Clippers deal was not influenced by Paul, rather saying it was his decision and one that ultimately didn’t work out, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
“All this stuff that (Paul) didn’t want me to go to the Clippers and didn’t want me to go against LeBron (James), that’s not true,” Morris said. “He never told me not to take the deal. For as long as I’ve known Rich — and that’s still someone I have love for and that’s still my guy — he has been great in terms of advice. He told me he wanted me to take the Clippers deal. He gave me his advice.
“It was my decision and I had to make the best decision for me and my family.”
So there you have it. While the reports that he turned down the Clippers offer raised eyebrows as a matter of circumstantial evidence, but Morris insists that wasn’t the case.
