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Super agent Rich Paul has negotiated NBA and NFL contracts totaling over $4 BILLION since becoming LeBron James’ agent. The two met in 2002 at the Akron airport when LeBron James took notice of Rich Paul‘s throwback Warren Moon jersey. From there, the two become close friends with Rich joining LeBron’s entourage before eventually becoming a sports agent and in 2012 Rich and LeBron started the Klutch Sports Group agency together.
These days, Rich Paul is a household name for NBA fans. He’s negotiated contracts for LeBron James, Draymond Green, Lonzo Ball, DeAndre Hopkins, Myles Garrett, Odell Beckham Jr., and countless others. Rich is also dating dating Adele and has converted her to a Cleveland Browns fans.
Paul sat down with Bill Whitaker on 60 Minutes. Whitaker asked Rich Paul about ‘player loyalty’ in professional sports. His response was fascinating.
Rich Paul Discusses Player Loyalty
Bill Whitaker: “Some people would say that you’re destroying the player loyalty to the teams and the fans…”
Rich Paul: “Player loyalty to what If I can be traded in the middle of the night to another team? What I should be (doing is) educating myself to where, if this isn’t going the way I thought it was supposed to go (then) I can switch up… I have options. What’s the sense in having money with no options?”
This is, of course, a driving sentiment behind the Anthony Davis-New Orleans Pelicans breakup. Anthony Davis had fired his agent in 2018 and hired Rich Paul to get him out of his $127 million contract with NOLA.
Rich broke the NBA’s rules and publicly demanded a trade, a move that cost him a $50K fine. Ultimately, that money was nothing in the grand scheme of things when Anthony Davis got traded to the Los Angeles Lakers alongside LeBron James.
The whole 60 Minutes segment with Rich Paul is fascinating and worth watching (above). It is interesting to speculate why Rich might want to do this interview now. He is already the highest-profile agent in the NBA. What could be on the horizon that put this interview on his schedule now?