David Richard-Imagn Images
Rich Paul has reaped the benefits of being a longtime friend of LeBron James while serving as his agent for a sizeable chunk of his legendary career. He also has a reputation for serving as a mouthpiece for his most notable client, but the Lakers star had to do some damage control over comments concerning a hypothetical trade involving Austin Reaves.
In 2002, Rich Paul had what would end up being the most impactful encounter of his life when he crossed paths with LeBron James at an airport in Ohio. The Cleveland native was rocking one of the throwback jerseys he was flipping to make money at the time, and it caught the attention of the high schooler who was a year away from being selected with the first overall pick in the NBA Draft.
That marked the start of a relationship that has seen Paul spend over two decades as one of the most trusted members of LeBron’s inner circle, and he’s served as his agent since launching Klutch Sports (which also represents notable names including Lonzo Ball, Anthony Davis, and Draymond Green) in 2012.
Paul has been able to leverage his relationship with LeBron to throw his weight around, and many fans believe he’s a tactician who’s tight with his client to the point where virtually all of his thoughts on basketball-related matters are implicitly endorsed by the 41-year-old who’s currently in the midst of his 23rd season in the NBA.
He was subsequently able to stir up some drama while chiming in on the current state of the Lakers, and James went out of his way to downplay the comments that led some people to believe he was angling to get Austin Reaves out of Los Angeles.
LeBron James stressed Rich Paul is “his own man” after his agent pushed for the Lakers to trade Austin Reaves
Last month, Paul turned some heads when he said he doesn’t think the Lakers have what it takes to compete for a championship this season while declining to shut down the possibility of LeBron being traded to another team.
He shared those remarks on Game Over, the podcast he co-hosts with Max Kellerman, and this week, he used that platform to push for a trade that would send Austin Reaves to the Grizzlies in exchange for Jaren Jackson.
There was nothing that explicitly suggested LeBron endorsed that particular transaction, but it nonetheless managed to make some waves among the NBA fans who are convinced Paul is serving as a puppet for James whenever he shares his thoughts on matters like that.
According to ESPN, LeBron distanced himself from the proposal when he was asked about it in the wake of his team’s win over the Hawks on Tuesday, saying:
“I think you all know by now, Rich is his own man and what Rich says is not a direct reflection of me and how I feel, and I hope people know that.
I hope people know that and if they’re not sensible to know that, then I don’t know what to tell them.”
The trade deadline will roll around on February 5th, so we still have a few weeks to see how this ends up playing out.