Sports Agent and Sports Lawyer Blog

Mark Woods, who never fails to provide comprehensive updates on all the latest happenings of basketball in Great Britain, has reported on the Worcester Wolves controversy surrounding the firing of coach Chuck Evans, and the apparent racial feud that resulted in the team canceling its entire December schedule.

Now the local Worcester newspaper has weighed in and reprinted what it calls “players notes” taken at the incendiary meeting. From the excerpt:

Coach Evans continued the two hour film session pointing out all the faults that the white players made during the game with racist remarks to put down the white players with comments including: "Skouson, the team you coached two years ago that I played on it, tell me who was on it, mainly black guys and you, that's why we were so tough"...I replied "We had a mixed race English player, and African-American/Colombian/White player, a mixed raced white/Hispanic/black player, you (African American) and me were the main players, but race had nothing to do with our performance" Coach Evans responded "Ya but their dads were black...see, mainly tough black players...only a couple white guys, and you think I'm crazy?" Coach Evans continued with such comments: ..."bitch ass pass...that's my white guys for ya" ..."you see, you see, look at the two guys involved in making that turnover, two white guys, I'm not crazy"

I communicated with Coach Evans a handful of times regarding some of my clients and found him to be a true professional. Whether these remarks attributed to him are accurate is unclear, because Coach Evans provided statement that amounted to “no comment.” Evans is probably doing the right thing, as there can be nothing gained from engaging in a war of words via the media.

I recently read an article about the National Basketball Retired Players Association's program to help retired athletes transition to so-called civilian life. Charles Smith, a nine-year NBA veteran, is heading up the effort to help retired pro athletes.

Smith's efforts are admirable. However, when a retired pro baller gets to the situation where he needs major assistance in getting his financial house in order, it begs the question: Where was the agent to begin with? Why didn't the player's agent offer to set up his client with financial advice, tax shelters, and retirement planning? I am not suggesting that all agents need to delve into areas with which they are unfamiliar. Still, an agent absolutely must be willing and able to offer the resources for his client to take advantage of. Of course the article is correct when it states that only the athlete can come to the realization that he needs to plan for his future:

Sometimes the first challenge is convincing players that they need to plan at all. They live in a world of instant gratification and relative comfort. The average N.B.A. salary is about $5.8 million, and the minimum is $457,000. No one ever anticipates losing it all.

“I understand they’re sitting there and: ‘It ain’t me. It’s not going to happen to me,’ ” Smith said. “You got to think that way. But on this side of the fence, and when you’re getting ready to retire, now we have to shoot straight with them.”

In my view, agents need to be more proactive. Agents can, and should, do everything in their power to make sure that their clients are more than simple money-generating machines. They should understand that the clients are human beings, often from underprivileged backgrounds, who need someone to counsel them on their financial future, or at the very least to steer them toward a professional so that they will not end up like Antoine Walker.

Just wanted to follow up on this week’s recent blog post about high school basketball players and the problems with the NBA’s “one-and-done” rule.

First, in an op-ed piece in the New York Times, Buzz Bissinger weighs in on all the problems with the NBA's age limit restriction that he has observed in the years since its implementation. From the article:

But the right decision would be to abolish the N.B.A. age limit. Equally important, professional sports leagues and the N.C.A.A. should stop jumping into the same Jacuzzi together, turning the idea of “student-athletes” into a farce, padding university coffers and keeping the pro owners from having to pay for the grooming of young talent

Sports Law Blog provides it usual cogent analysis of the legal ramifications of the situation.

Second, Darren Heitner of Sports Agent Blog, which is a must-read for anyone interested in learning how sports agents do business, weighs in on a new NCAA proposal regarding amateurism and opportunities for student athletes to play professional sports overseas upon graduating from high school. Jeremy Tyler did not graduate from high school, so this rule would not have affected him had it been in place at present. Still, the fact that the NCAA is even considering changing this paradigm is newsworthy in and of itself.

Should you start you pro sports career now, or should you go to college instead? Before long, that choice may be made for you. If collegiate sports spending is unsustainable, what does that mean for future professional athletes?

The Knight Commission recently held its annual gripe session in Miami and more than 75 percent of college presidents believe that the level of college athletic spending is too high, and that something must be done to reign in scholarship costs. That sounds to me like the presidents plan to cut scholarship costs as soon as they can.

What does it mean for kids hoping to pursue professional sports careers if there are fewer scholarships? Only time will tell, but one would think a natural and inevitable consequence is that the level of competition will be diluted at the collegiate level.

If collegiate competition is watered down, what happens to pro sports? Let’s consider a non-revenue sport like collegiate tennis, which has a vibrant professional tour. If scholarships are cut, more high school tennis kids will try to make it on the professional tour. Would that add to the quality of pro tennis? If colleges nationwide eliminate 500 tennis scholarships over the next decade, then how many of those kids will turn pro? More importantly, how many of the few remaining athletes will forgo collegiate tennis entirely, as the entire game is less meaningful? I predict that this is an opportunity for many sports such as tennis to capitalize and launch more professional leagues, teams and organizations, and differentiate their levels of competition. Consider what would happen if the majority of college golf scholarships were eliminated. We already have several “minor league” golf tours, but wouldn’t you expect to see a few more?

The amateur-professional sports distinction, and the blurred line between the two worlds, is a well-documented discussion. I think the line could eventually become more solidified as colleges continue to cut back, which means that college sports’ loss will be pro sports’ gain.

If you are interested in sports law related issues, please contact the sports law firm of Koch & Trushin, P.A.

I get a lot of calls and e-mails from basketball players who want to play overseas. What's the best way to get the attention of European, Asian, South American and African professional basketball coaches and teams? How good is the competition over there? What should I do position myself to play overseas basketball when my amateur career is over?

Unfortunately, the answer is complicated. We will explore the best ways to go about finding an overseas team in a later blog post. For now, let's talk about what I think is the absolute wrong way to find a basketball team overseas.

For every Jeremy Tyler, who left high school early to play basketball overseas in Israel, there are a lot more players who wish they could go over there but are not mature enough in their game and off the court to play overseas.

Tyler signed a one-year, $140,000 contract. Apparently he plans to use this league as a jump-start to a higher, more lucrative league next year. Then he'll be ready to jump to the NBA when he's eligible for the draft in 2011 (Remember that you're not draft-eligible in the NBA until one full school year after your high school class graduated - or in Tyler's case, after the class would have graduated).

One has to question the wisdom of Tyler's decision. He is passing up the chance to earn a high school diploma. Here is Tyler's reasoning:

“I left high school early because I felt I could develop my game more by playing professional,” Tyler said.
“Why?”
“Because high school sports wasn't that fun,” said Tyler, 18. “I wasn't getting better. I was developing bad habits. Hopefully here I can develop my skills, and I can show the world I have talent.”

Here's hoping his basketball career works out and he gets drafted in the NBA in 2011. If basketball doesn't work for him, he will lack even the most basic of credentials (a high school diploma) and be virtually unemployable in any career, even minimum wage jobs. This is a short-sighted and narrow-minded decision in my opinion, one that has nothing to do with basketball and everything to do with money.

It's every agent's and athlete's worst-case scenario: You find what seems like a plum spot for your client overseas, but the team fails to pay up. Because the team is not subject to jurisdiction of the courts in the United States, there isn't much the agent or athlete can do to obtain the money which is duly owed.

Attorney and agent Tom McLaughlin has been chasing Greek basketball team Olympiakos for about five years now, and he finally has the chance to get paid. He sued because a couple of his players were not paid by the basketball team, and he did not receive his agent's commission.

He proposed having the federal marshals seize all of the team's assets, but instead it looks as though he will need to settle for a deposition of the team's billionaire owner. Here's hoping he gets paid, and that Olympiakos honors its debt.

Continue reading "Agent Sues Overseas Basketball Team" »

Is there a new opportunity for American basketball players overseas? The Financial Times reports that a new basketball league is in the works in England. The league ownership would likely consist of the deep-pocketed folks who already own soccer teams in the Premier League, which is the top soccer league. The league would reportedly be backed by former NBA officials.

What does this mean for American basketball players seeking jobs overseas? It's not clear yet, but it seems like there would be more opportunities. FIBA-certified basketball agents would be wise to keep an eye on this developing story to ensure that they are in position to place their clients with the new league when it tips off.

Why should agents pay attention? This quote says it all:

The $25m would enable BBA clubs to pay between five and 10 times the wages paid in the BBL and to market the game in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics.

As they want this league to be up and running before the 2010 Olympics, they would likely launch next season or sooner. This could cause a mass defection of imports to the new league, especially if the salaries are in fact as high as the newspaper reports.

If you're a professional basketball player looking to play ball overseas, please make sure your sports agent is aware of this new development.

For more information on this overseas basketball opportunity, contact Florida-based sports lawyer Jason Wolf.