NBA Agent Mad at Klutch Sports Over Stolen Clients

I read the entire Athletic article to make sure nothing was taken out of context.

One agent is PISSED that LeBron and Rich Paul are taking away the big names. It was one of those "we surveyed 500 anonymous executives and agents regarding the state of the NBA" articles.

The question: "Who's the best player in the league?"

The most popular choice was LeBron with KD and Kawhi sprinkled in there. Everyone was praising LeBron for what he's accomplished on and off the court, except for one bitter agent.

He mentions how LeBron and Paul operate their agency like an AAU team. No shit dude. If you look around the NBA now, it's one big AAU tournament. Stars want to team up with their friends and play on loaded rosters. It's been like this for a decade now. How are you still employed if you haven't realized this?

“That’s the only disappointment is LeBron has leveraged his popularity with young players for seducing them for Klutch and it’s not serving all the players well. But for the players that are suffering, there’s no repercussions.

So he blames LeBron for leveraging his stardom to attract clients to his agency. Hmmm, I'm no crazy businessman, but it seems like a good way to promote your business! What's he supposed to do? Not use his popularity to boost his agency's reputation that he's invested millions of dollars in? If I were a 19-year-old kid coming out of Duke, would I rather sign with the cool, trendy agent, or a crusty old man that still uses a Blackberry? I'm probably going with the man who's been the face of the NBA for the past 16 seasons.

Lastly, this was my favorite quote:

“They’ve been able to leverage KCP, two or three years in a row because they have the power and they’re forcing it down their throat.

Lets look at KCP's contract the past three years:

Poor KCP. Only making over $35 million while playing for one of the marquee franchises in all of sports. He's a free agent after opting out of his deal. I'm sure teams will knock on his door for his services because he had a few good games in the NBA Finals.

Agents are mad because the players have more power than them. NFL players are already representing themselves. With professional athletes getting smarter about their money, I think we're going to see more self-representation in every league.