Why Disruptors Like Rich Paul Need Not Worry About Systems That Push Back Against Them

Courtesy:USA Today


Black people in this country have heard it for long enough that the systems in this country were not built for us to thrive. I consider us to be at the top of the most resilient groups of people in this world.  You have no choice but to be resourceful in this world when places like the United States continue to marginalize you.

This brings me to Rich Paul. A childhood friend of Lebron James who was given opportunities to learn the business of being an agent via Lebron's resources. What Lebron did for Rich Paul, Maverick Carter, and others is what all of us in this community are called to do. Lebron was able to be put in a fortuitous position. He saw it fit to bring his fellas along with him. But he didn't want to mimic any sort of "posse," rather  he wanted to equip his friends with tools to become sought after businessmen of their own. Quite frankly, they continue to exceed I'm sure whatever their own expectations might've been.
Courtesy: Marcus Paul

Rich Paul has become one of the most singular sought after men in sports. After founding Klutch Sports Group in September of 2012, he began an odyssey of acquiring some of the biggest names in sports. Such athletes include Lebron James, Draymond Green, John Wall, Ben Simmons and Anthony Davis. He has gained a reputation of truly being an agent with the player's best interest at the top of his priority list. He is a shrewd negotiator and he is someone who imparts the same wisdom that he has received. NBA front offices know Rich well. They know that ultimately, Rich gets whatever he wants for his clients. We have yet to see him fail in this regard. That can't continue, can it?
Courtesy: Uproxx

This past Tuesday the NCAA rolled out new guidelines for agents who seek to represent students who are seeking NBA draft eligibility. Last year the NCAA started a policy in which students who decided to go into the draft after one year still had eligibility to come back to school for free whether drafted or not. The latest updates this past Tuesday stated that for any agent that sought to represent a draft eligible athlete had to have a Bachelor's degree along with 3 years of NBPA certification and completion and passage of an NCAA administered exam in Indianapolis.

This has been dubbed as the "Rich Paul Rule." Why is that? Rich Paul has excelled in his field without having a college degree. He found a way to connect with professionals and carry himself in a way that he was able get results without needing a college degree. 

Egregious is probably one of the words you could use to describe this new development. Some would describe it as blatantly racist as one Chris Broussard would say.


Chris Rock famously said once that the Black man has to fly to places that White people can walk to. He used an example of his next door neighbor simply being a dentist. Not the best dentist of all time necessarily, but just a guy who happened to be a dentist.

The NCAA would have you believe that they are looking out for their students by implementing this policy. However, I'm of the belief that they are trying to stunt the opportunities that could be afforded to the students by working with visionaries like Rich Paul.
Courtesy: USA Today

Darius Bazley decommitted from Syracuse University last year and decided to sign a 1 million dollar deal with New Balance to be an intern. This internship totally circumvents the conventional route of "one and done." There has long been a call for the NCAA to begin paying student athletes. The amount of revenue that the sports programs drive for the universities have been the impetus for such a request. The NCAA has vehemently been against doing this. What Rich Paul has exhibited is how to create another lane for athletes to build brands outside of sports while remaining athletic commodities. That'll surely piss the NCAA off and I think that this in particular played a huge role in the implementation of the Rich Paul Rule.
Courtesy: Sports Illustrated


Rich Paul has a track record of figuring it out to put it simply. He outsmarted the NCAA. He delivered Anthony Davis to the Lakers. Hell, he got Tristan Thompson 80 million dollars with the help of Lebron. He disrupts. Players love the culture that Rich Paul is forging. In this era currently the players are smartening up business wise and a huge catalyst for this has been Rich Paul for the past 10 years. With all he that has done for players and with no harm done to them on his part, where did the significance of needing a Bachelor's degree come from? It's simple arithmetic as far as I'm concerned. But if history has taught us anything, Rich Paul has no reason to sweat. The lesson we all can take from this is that there is always a way to figure it out. Hell, that's just what we do.

These are my words and I make no apologies.

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