LeBron James speaks out at the NCAA over the “Rich Paul” rule!

Say hello to Rich Paul. A super agent who did it his way!

There will be plenty of people who will say that the only reason Rich Paul is successful is that he is LeBron James’ agent and they are friends. If you believe that you have no business acumen whatsoever. It doesn’t hurt that his first client was LeBron James, who Rich Paul started helping after he left for the NBA for Cleveland back in 2003.

But even then, no one knew that an 18-year-old kid from Akron would turn himself into an all-time NBA great. I’m sure nobody envisioned LeBron keeping himself busy in the offseason building a media empire and opening a school in his hometown state. Let’s look at it this way. Rich Paul has helped LeBron James become a global brand called “LeBron”.

But there were moves that Rich Paul made that weren’t mistakes, but put the spotlight (Aka target to some) on himself.

First, there was the Anthony Davis trade saga around the trade deadline that ruffled the feathers of owners around the NBA with the attempt to force Davis out of New Orleans.

Things got so bad that there were reports that Jeanie Buss was angered over the process to the point that she allegedly thought about trading LeBron James. Then it was reported that a meeting was had between Ms. Buss and Paul to smooth things over. Stephen A. Smith went over that in detail on his radio show at the time.

Then that Sports Illustrated article that put Paul on the cover further added to Rich Paul’s shine.

The headline at the top says it all. “The King Maker: Why Rich Paul will own the summer”. At this point, it has been made clear that Paul has just as much influence over the NBA in 2019 as LeBron did in 2010 and 2014.

The era of player empowerment in the NBA is in full effect and with the cache of the NBA’s brightest stars, Rich Paul is now a power broker to be reckoned with.

I mentioned LeBron James having a “corporate takeover” at the trade deadline trying to bring Anthony Davis in a Laker uniform. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe it was Rich Paul with the big plans for his clients throughout the NBA. I mean LeBron James wasn’t the one that got fined $50,000 by the NBA.

The NBA commissioner has already been quoted having concerns about the free agency process of last year. An issue I believe will definitely be at the top of the list when the Collective Bargaining Agreement come renegotiation time.

But the NBA is not the only organization that is watching Rich Paul. One groundbreaking move with a blue-chip high school recruit kicked up dust within the NCAA.