LeBron James’ agent and best friend, Rich Paul is starting to expand his business to representing potential NFL players.
The dominance of Rich Paul is unquestionable. Right now, he is the undisputed king of the mountain with the star power of NBA stars that include Draymond Green, Ben Simmons, Eric Bledsoe and Anthony Davis with plenty of others. How good is Rich Paul? J.R. Smith, Tristan Thompson and a player Lakers fans know, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, each has gotten very rich thanks to Paul.
Couple that with LeBron James, who represents the “Global” brand of the NBA. Rich Paul has made some powerful business connections that are expanding outside the NBA. His negotiations to have the Klutch Sports Group to work with the United Talent Agency in Beverly Hills, California made Paul a power player to be reckoned with in all business aspects.
Now it seems that the NFL could possibly be in the future of Rich Paul.
NBA is now turning to the NFL: Klutch Sports Group, led by the well-known Rich Paul, is in talks with agent Damarius Bilbo to lead his football division, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 10, 2019
Klutch Sports Group, led by LeBron James’ agent Rich Paul, is in talks with agent Damarius Bilbo to lead a football division.
Some of the players Bilbo represents are Miami Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard, Los Angeles Chargers running back Melvin Gordon (for now…he wants a new contract and is holding out. That contract is not coming! Trade offers pending!), Cleveland Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry and New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara. There’s definite star power on this list.
With Bilbo being suspended earlier this year and fined, maybe he needs help with the day-to-day operations. Who knows?
But what does this have to do with LeBron James you ask? Remember that episode on HBO’s “The Shop” when LeBron had his take on the NFL owners?
"“In the NFL they got a bunch of old white men owning teams, and they got that slave mentality,” James said during the episode. “And it’s like, ‘This is my team. You do what the f— I tell y’all to do or we get rid of y’all.’ “The players are who make the ship go. We make it go. Every Sunday, without Todd Gurley and without Odell Beckham Jr., without those players, those guys, there is no football. And it’s the same in the NBA.”"
With the constant haunting of Colin Kaepernick’s past floating around, it will be very interesting to see if LeBron James’ outspoken takes ruffles the feathers of NFL owners. Since both men are signed to Nike contracts, the effect may be stronger than most think.
Then there’s the GQ conversation featuring LeBron James’ friend Dwyane Wade and Rick Ross talking theoretically about owning an NFL team.
"“Let’s say the opportunity presented itself,” says Ross to Wade, “and we had the opportunity to buy ourselves an NFL team. Is that something we move forward on, or don’t?” “I move forward,” says D-Wade, completely serious. “I move forward on it.” “I’m glad,” says Ross, as they shake hands."
Definite possibilities here.