The rise of Rich Paul
Rich Paul is one of the most successful sports agents across any sport, but his road to success was anything but normal. From selling sports jerseys out of his car to a chance run in with LeBron James, Paul, with a little luck willed himself to success. Today’s article will dive into his story. If you want to read more about him, you can read his autobiography titled, “Lucky Me: A Memoir of Changing the Odds,” which releases tomorrow. You can pre-order it now on my affiliate links page:
Childhood
Rich Paul grew up in a rough neighborhood on the east side of Cleveland. Paul can recall the street corners where people fell victim to gun violence. At the age of four, Paul knew his mother was a drug addict. As he looks back on his childhood he wrote, “I never had the chance to be a kid…Crack was so powerful it decimated my mother's love and expedited my adolescence. I had to grow from a cub to a young wolf right away.”
At the age of six Paul learned how to shoot dice. For him, it wasn’t just a game, but a way to earn money for his family. He would oftentimes gamble against grown men and come away with winnings. When Paul was 10, he moved in with his grandmother and great-uncle because his mother wasn’t able to take care of him or his two siblings anymore.
Paul’s father was hard on him, especially when it came to his grades. He once threatened to shoot Paul when he had a 1.4 GPA. He said, “You keep this up I'm gonna take you out of this world and I'm not gonna do a day in jail for it. You keep disrespecting me, I'm gonna show you what disrespect gets you.”
As Paul writes, “That moment changed the trajectory of my life.” Shortly after this incident, his GPA improved and it never went below 3.6 again.
When Paul was in college at Cleveland State, his father was diagnosed with cancer. When his father passed, Paul dropped out of school. Paul recalls, “He was always telling me my education was important. I still probably would have finished school if my father was alive. "I never wanted to let him down.”
After grieving the death of his father Paul writes, “Dad had been the only thing standing between me and full immersion in the streets.” Paul decided to start dealing cocaine because he felt he needed to be “more of a man.”
As Paul started to make money, he started to spend it — designer clothes, Rolexes, NBA games, and a house, which he bought at the age of 19. However, selling drugs was a risky business. He decided he needed to get into a new business after he was robbed of $300,000 cash and an expensive watch. That’s when he came across a store in Atlanta called Distant Replays, which sold rare sports jerseys. He ended up getting a part-time job at the store, which allowed him to get a 30% discount. He would then purchase them and fly back to Cleveland where he would sell them out of the trunk of his car for a profit. Paul writes that the jerseys “sold better than crack” as he started making around $15,000 a month from his jersey sales.
Meeting LeBron
It was during this time in 2002 when Paul met LeBron James in the airport on the way to Atlanta. LeBron noticed Paul because he was wearing a Warren Moon Houston Oilers jersey. The two exchanged contact information and stayed in touch, bonding over sports and the similarities of growing up in the inner city. Paul quickly earned LeBron’s trust and found himself as a member of his inner circle.
The next year, LeBron was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers. It was shortly after that when LeBron started paying Paul $48,000 a year as a way to show Paul he wanted their friendship to grow.
In 2006, Paul then went to work with Leon Rose, LeBron’s agent at the time. LeBron liked having Paul around. One of LeBron’s closest friend from high school turned advisor, Maverick Carter, believed LeBron looked at Paul as someone he could learn from.
Klutch Sports
After working under Rose, Paul decided to venture out on his own and started his own sports agency called Klutch Sports. LeBron was among his first clients. Paul was able to grow Klutch quickly and brought on Mark Termini, an experienced sports agent to run his NBA contract negotiations. Today, Klutch represents some of the best players in the NBA including LeBron, Anthony Davis, De'Aaron Fox, Draymond Green, Zach LaVine, Fred VanVleet, and Trae Young. This offseason alone he secured over $600 million worth of player contracts.
In 2019, Paul sold a significant stake in Klutch to United Talent Agency (UTA). He then was appointed to lead their sports division where he now represents players from the WNBA and NFL including A’ja Wilson, Jalen Hurts, Odell Beckham Jr, and DeAndre Hopkins. In 2020 he joined the UTA board.
In many ways the Rich Paul story is as much about LeBron as it is Paul. However, those who have spent time around LeBron and Paul want to make sure Paul’s success isn’t discredited. Brian Windhorst, an NBA analyst for ESPN speaking about LeBron’s role in Klutch said, “Is there some secret arrangement? So what if there is? If he tosses LeBron some sort of kickback, so what? Rich may have been pulled up on his feet by LeBron, but he grew his own wings.”
Player Empowerment
Much of Paul’s ethos as a sports agent is centered around player empowerment. Klutch wants the athlete to be at the center of the decision-making process. Much of the player empowerment movement can be traced back to “The Decision,” when LeBron announced live on ESPN that he would be “Taking his talents to South Beach.” LeBron feels that he was the catalyst to allow other athletes to take control of their careers.
Paul became known in the NBA for extracting everything he could for his clients and empowering them to play where they wanted — for better or worse. Many of Paul’s clients have been LeBron’s teammates, one of which is Anthony Davis. Paul helped Davis force his way out of New Orleans by demanding a trade to the Lakers to play with LeBron.
In an interview asking about the Davis trade request, Paul called people “casual fans” if they get upset about players asking to be traded in the middle of their contract. He said those fans don’t understand the nuances and inner workings of a sports team. From the conversation, Paul led on that he likely convinced Davis to leave New Orleans and go to the Lakers due to their unwillingness to spend money to win. The final destination of the Lakers could very well have been because of LeBron. Someone more skeptical may even think LeBron was working behind the scenes to make it happen. In any case, Anthony Davis was fined $50,000 by the NBA for his public trade request, a small price to pay compared to what he’s accomplished as a Laker.
Draymond Green said in a 60 Minutes special, “Most agents treat athletes as if the athlete works for them. But there’s a multi-billion dollar business going on around most athletes that they don’t understand…They don’t have Rich Paul to teach them.” Paul is known to educate young athletes about money, how to impress front offices, and milk the most out of their short playing careers.
Superstars demanding trades, even with multiple years on their contract, has now become the norm in the NBA. From James Harden to Damian Lillard, players are now feeling more empowered than ever to take control of their own destiny. Much of this behavior can be traced to Paul and LeBron’s player empowerment mantra. While player empowerment is great for the athletes, it’s not always great for the league, fans, or team owners. Small market teams are more hindered than ever to build championship contenders and have a ticking time bomb as soon as they draft a young star. However, it’s hard to blame Paul and other agents like him. They are just doing their job and acting in what they believe is the best interest of their clients.
Legacy
If Rich Paul decided to hang up the boots today, his legacy would be lasting. However, at just 41 years old, he has a lot more legacy building he could do. Him and LeBron will likely forever be tied together. Two kids from inner cities in Ohio have taken the NBA by storm and have transformed the way teams and players do business. Together they are building an empire that will likely define and influence athletes for years to come.
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