Former Miami Heat player Norris Cole made a recent comment about agent Rich Paul harming his career. Cole teamed with LeBron James and the rest of the “big three” Heat when entering the league as a talented rookie. Miami often split the point guard minutes up with Mario Chalmers during three consecutive years of making the NBA Finals.
Cole dropped the following honest commentary on why he feels Paul ruined his NBA career:
“I learned a hard lesson in the business of basketball. For y’all young fellas out there, when you have an agent, make sure you’re involved in what’s going on. Don’t just let them handle stuff behind the scenes without you knowing. It was my first time in free agency. I didn’t know that.
I had a powerful agent, and I let him do everything, all the negotiating. I didn’t even think twice about it. But he did some bad negotiations. I caught wind of it late, and I ended up firing him. And when you fire a powerful agent, of course they’re going to save face. That’s what happened. They tried to make it seem like I was the greedy one.”
Cole accused Paul of demanding too much money from other teams and rubbing other teams the wrong way. It wasn’t too long before Cole found himself out of the NBA. The failure didn’t hurt Paul since he became a more powerful agent landing talents like Anthony Davis and Draymond Green to put this in his past.
How LeBron Influenced Cole To Hire Rich Paul
The Klutch Agency started in 2012 with Paul looking to hire new clients after building connections as LeBron’s best friend. Cole was one of the first players to take the chance on the unproven Paul to represent him.
NBA Championship victories over the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs saw Cole winning two rings in his first two seasons. Life was going well for Cole until his first big free agency offseason and Paul’s inability to get him paid.
James likely influenced Cole and other players to give Paul a chance, especially since these two were teammates on the most popular team at the time. Cole had one more season with the New Orleans Pelicans and lost his NBA role afterwards to play internationally.
Rich Paul Has Improved Since Then
One noteworthy point is that Paul has become one of the top agents in the league since then. Cole was harmed by his negotiations, but Paul has helped talents like Zach LaVine and Brandon Ingram receive huge contract extensions.
Influence from Paul helped land LeBron in Philadelphia due to connections involving Tyrese Maxey. Paul becomes friends with his clients, and this led to Maxey and James developing a close relationship to inspire LeBron to team up with him.
Most NBA teams now respect Paul and consider him one of the best agents in the league. Cole suffered from being one of the early clients of Paul and failing to get a good deal. Future players didn’t need to worry about the same pitfalls after Paul figured out the job.
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