LeBron James is arguably the greatest basketball player of all-time, but his influences and power off the court is also up there with some of the most in sports history.
His agent and longtime friend Rich Paul steer that influence. Together, Paul and James have empowered NBA players more than ever during the last decade plus to challenge front offices and expand their earning capacity, most seen through Paul's agency, Klutch Sports Group.
But Paul had a difficult road to the top of the sports agency mountain, which he details in his new book that he's currently on a press tour on called "Lucky Me: A Memoir of Changing the Odds."
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And in an interview on 'First Take' with Stephen A. Smith, Molly Qerim, and Shannon Sharpe on Oct. 10, Paul said that one of things he had to navigate was in the sports agent industry was seeing a different side of people he had admired due to a cut throat environment.
"I used to have a profound respect for those in my field. I've lost that respect for a lot of them," Paul said. "Just because the lack of integrity, the lack of professionalism, the way they do things ... When I look at today's landscape, I just don't see the polishing that I got in my community that wherever I went, somebody was polishing my knife."
Paul said that he never felt like he was helped by any other Black agents in the field. He instead felt like people were ostracizing him, even belittling him due to his ties to James.
"No Black agents came to me and said, 'Rich, let me help you, let me show you, let me help you understand.' What they did was they went into families and talked bad about me. ... 'He's just LeBron's friend. When LeBron is done, he's going to be done.'"
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Paul said he ultimately wants to change this for the next crop of agents like him.
"For me, I'm not going to do unto others what was done to me. I pay it forward, so I'm giving the game away," Paul said.
"No Black agents came to me and said, 'Rich, let me help you, let me show you, let me help you understand.' What they did was they went into families and talked bad about me. ... 'He's just LeBron's friend. ... When LeBron is done, he's going to be done.'" - @RichPaul4 pic.twitter.com/lwx9Ae2l92
— First Take (@FirstTake) October 10, 2023
Paul was also a subject of documentary by '60 Minutes,' which highlighted the over $4 billion worth of contracts he's negotiated for pro athletes like James, Draymond Green, Anthony Davis, and Jalen Hurts. But Paul said that he's received criticism amid his success, and race has played a factor.
"When it was someone that didn't look like me, it was genius. It was why you get a power agent. But when it's me, I'm destroying the league. Those things are absurd," Paul said.
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