Two of the most powerful people in the NBA are Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James and his agent and longtime friend Rich Paul.
The two have come a long way since James reportedly met him at an airport in Ohio, where Paul was selling authentic throwback uniforms from the trunk of his car in 2002.
James, who then asked the entrepreneur to join his inner circle shortly after, brought Paul to Creative Arts Agency where he would work directly under LeBron’s former agent Leon Rose. Then in 2012, the Klutch Sports agency was founded.
Paul started with James as well as Tristan Thompson, Eric Bledsoe and Cory Joseph as his only clients. Seven years later and with the addition of Golden State’s Draymond Green, Paul’s clients combine for $212 million this season on NBA salaries alone.
Paul has risen all the way up to No. 3 in total client wages this year even though he ranks No. 7 overall in the total number of clients on his roster at Klutch Sports. (For what it’s worth: we rank agents based on total client wages even though agents cash in commissions based on the contracts they negotiated).
That represents a huge spike of star power under his umbrella with the recent additions of All-Stats including Green as well as Anthony Davis and John Wall. Even though the point guard has received a supermax deal, Davis is also in line for a massive payday when he hits free agency regardless of where he eventually is playing.
Expect this to improve when young players like Ben Simmons and Dejounte Murray earn their second contracts in the NBA and are no longer playing on their rookie-scale deals. The most recent rookies that Paul represents includes Darius Bazley (2019), Darius Garland (2019), Miles Bridges (2018) and Terrance Ferguson (2017).
While the list might be highlighted by players with star potential, Klutch also represents some interesting role players. Twin brothers Marcus Morris and Markieff Morris play valuable minutes for playoff contenders. In fact, Paul has two clients (Nerlens Noel) on the Oklahoma City Thunder – potentially poised for a run in the Western Conference postseason.
If they play well, expect decent contracts offered this offseason to upcoming free agents including both Morris brothers as well as Noel, Cory Joseph and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope this offseason.
