NBA super-agent Rich Paul is everywhere this week promoting his new memoir with appearances on 60 Minutes, First Take, CBS This Morning, The Pat McAfee Show, and The Breakfast Club.
Paul also did print interviews with Semafor, the New York Times and the Washington Post before capping off his Tuesday afternoon with First Things First on Fox Sports 1. Complex published an excerpt of Paul’s new book, “Lucky Me.”
While those interviews offered each show an opportunity to hear about NBA legend LeBron James, whom Paul represents, and Adele, whom Paul has dated for years, they also underscored a unique reality in the NBA today. Paul, an agent, has become one of the more recognizable voices anywhere in the league.
In large part, Paul’s media strategy around the book release seems to focus on two things. Paul wants to give young people from similar walks of life the template to own the sports business world. He also wants to separate his own story from that of James.
Paul has a New Balance signature sneaker, his Klutch Sports agency was named a Time 100 Most Influential company last year, and he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated and the New Yorker before ever writing the memoir.
Across the media, people want to hear from Paul.
Beyond LeBron or Adele, two questions from the media tour help explain why.
Breakfast Club co-host DJ Envy asked Paul about the “Rich Paul Rule” instituted by the NCAA, which required agents representing prospective draft picks who had not yet foregone college eligibility to have a bachelor’s degree.
Paul explained that news coverage of his rise in NBA circles a decade ago did not take well to his disruption of the industry. To Paul, the NCAA rule came from the same place before it was rescinded.
On First Things First, longtime NBA insider Chris Broussard asked Paul whether NBA star Damian Lillard being traded to Milwaukee over Miami would be the end of the “player empowerment” era in the league.
Paul said, “No.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hU20kRaTQE
But the reason Paul was in demand for interviews across the media spectrum is because his connections and rise in the business tell the story of the changing league. It’s no coincidence Paul has lobbied hard in interviews for James as the NBA’s best player ever specifically because he handled the modern media era. They are two prongs of the same story of how the NBA arrived in 2023.
Before James’ self-determinism and the rise of a predominantly Black, player-first agency like Klutch, it was nearly impossible for NBA players to exert their influence. Today, every star does it.
That’s why Paul matters enough for CBS or even ESPN to book him. He was a driving force in reimagining an NBA driven by players, on the court and off it.
The media is taking notice of that evolution, and it benefits Paul to highlight his role. After all, his reach is still growing.
