The Rich Paul Connection
Many people who follow Los Angeles Lakers basketball closely realize that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope signing with the Lakers in the rebuilding era to a contract well above his pay grade (at the time) was to lure LeBron James.
KCP shares representation with LeBron James in Klutch Sports super-agent Rich Paul. Paul is developing into one of the most recognizable faces in the sport and has moved markets every season he has been around. Klutch Sports represents all kinds of NBA superstars from Ben Simmons and Anthony Davis to Trae Young and Draymond Green.
His list of clients is one that has some very important names on it. The Lakers rolled the dice on KCP and were able to get ‘in the room’ with Rich Paul and lay the foundation to turn the franchise around.
The Lakers are now becoming the team being called ‘the Klutch team’. LeBron James and Anthony Davis are the two biggest clients Rich Paul has — they are both Lakers. The Lakers grabbed Markieff Morris, Dion Waiters, and JR Smith late last season — all Klutch clients.
The Lakers signed Montrezl Harrell in addition to KCP while also having young prospect Talen Horton-Tucker as Klutch clients. It’s wild. It also all started with KCP and as long as the culture of Klutch is centered around the Lakers, the Lakers will be first in the room every time a Klutch star becomes available.
While the whole Klutch connection might be overstated, it is hard to ignore the fact that half the Lakers’ roster last season was represented by the agency.