It’s been a year since the NCAA decided to allow college basketball players who want to test the waters of the NBA draft to consult with an agent without losing their eligibility, a move generally seen by outside observers as an important step toward fair treatment of these student-athletes.
However, whenever anything the NCAA does seems even remotely positive or athlete-friendly, you‘d better believe there’s a catch. This week, that catch came in the form of ridiculously over-the-top regulations that appear custom-targeted toward dampening the influence of one of the few black agents at the top of the game: Rich Paul, LeBron James’ long-time agent and business partner.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop! They BIG MAD 😡 and Scared 😱. Nothing will stop this movement and culture over here. Sorry! Not sorry. 😁✌🏾
— LeBron James (@KingJames) August 6, 2019
On Tuesday, the NCAA issued a memo clarifying that if an underclassmen wants to retain his NCAA eligibility — meaning he wants the ability to return to college if, after consulting with agents and working out for teams, he thinks his draft stock would be improved by spending another year in school — then any agent he talks to must meet three criteria: They must pass an in-person exam administered in Indianapolis, where NCAA headquarters are located; be certified by the NBA Players Association for three years, and have a bachelor’s degree.
Paul, it turns out, does not have a bachelor’s degree. He does, however, have an enormous amount of clout. Paul met James in 2002, quickly becoming close friends with the superstar. While James was setting records on the court in the NBA, Paul was learning the business side of basketball, working at the Creative Artists Agency (CAA). He left CAA in 2012 to start his own agency, Klutch Sports, which now represents James, Anthony Davis, and Draymond Green, among others.
Because of this, James and other NBA stars quickly dubbed these newly mandated certifications “The Rich Paul Rule.”
The “rich Paul” rule tho 🤦🏽♂️ smh
— Evan Turner (@thekidet) August 6, 2019
— LeBron James (@KingJames) August 6, 2019
Some might be tempted to buy the NCAA’s defense of these new requirements — that this is all about protecting student-athletes from predatory agents who will give them bad advice and steer them astray. But, of course, there already is a certification process in place, which is run by the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA). Any further structure duct-taped onto this existing process has but one purpose: bolstering the NCAA’s power over these athletes and reinforcing the league’s propaganda that a college degree is the ultimate prize.
The timing hardly seems coincidental. As James pointed out, this announcement comes soon after Paul arranged for elite basketball prospect Darius Bazley to skip the NCAA system altogether and instead earn $1 million as an intern for New Balance. Paul feels no allegiance toward propping up a system that exploits the labor of young black men while the league’s rich white fat cats rake in millions — a scheme so transparent that even some Republican lawmakers have taken aim at the searing injustice.
Paul’s increasing power and influence has rattled many in the NBA, as he has orchestrated incredibly lucrative and player-friendly contracts for his clients. And now it seems the NCAA is terrified, too.
It makes sense that the NCAA bigwigs are scared. There is currently a bipartisan push to end amateurism; the NBA is getting rid of its one-and-done rule, which requires players to have a year between high school and college before entering the draft; and the NBA G-League, a developmental league for NBA players, has even established a program targeted toward players coming out of high school — giving them an option that does not involve stepping into the NCAA cartel.
Yes, college degrees are still important. But in the world of athletics, they’re not everything. The only institution that hasn’t accepted this is the NCAA.