OKC Thunder: 3 takeaways from the Athletic agents poll

LeBron James and his ties to Klutch Sports

It’s no secret I’ve never been much of a fan of LeBron James — especially his OFF court image manipulation. There is no denying his ability on the floor, his truly unique ability and stature in history. Although Michael Jordan is my GOAT, LeBron is still in the conversation- it’s just a different era, and belonging more to the OG group I lean toward MJ.

What I found extremely interesting was the comments from the agents about James. While many are in awe of him there were others who share a similar opinion as mine.

"“Transcendent talent, but an overchoreographed public image and off-the-court persona. Too obviously rehearsed and planned. Not genuine. An obsession with creating a legacy instead of letting the legacy create itself.”"

Yet, the bigger takeaway from the agent’s comments centered on James’ impact and ties with Klutch Sports, his buddy Rich Paul’s agency. One agent went as far as saying the players represented by the agency aren’t getting serviced properly and that the league and NBPA should be looking into the situation.

"So, the fact that LeBron recruits and has empowered Rich Paul, and I get it, on the top guys, but if someone does their research, a lot of these guys have really gotten screwed, a large number of them, by mismanagement. “There’s at least five or six massive casualties. Nobody is saying anything and you can even say that the union should take some responsibility because they represent all of the players, not just LeBron James."

I’m not sure how accurate the comments on James, Rich Paul, and Klutch are. Like the Canadian tax comments, this could also be an agent trying to push their own narrative because he’s unhappy with the competitive advantage LeBron brings to Klutch. Or, perhaps this is being stated to try to put a spotlight on Klutch and have someone dig deeper to uncover the facts.

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OKC Thunder big man Nerlens Noel was a Klutch client having signed with them while still in Dallas. Noel famously turned down a four-year $70 million deal from Dallas, then signed with Klutch and never got the money or term he wanted moving forward.

Instead, he signed a one-year $4.1M qualifying offer, dealt with injuries, and landed in Rick Carlisle’s dog house. Between the media room hotdog incident and getting surgery on his thumb,  based on a decision made by Rich Paul and himself he wore out his welcome in Dallas.

That landed him in OKC on a very reasonable two-year contract with a player option. This past offseason, he exercised that option but ended up re-signing with OKC on another low-cost deal and the negotiations were anything but smooth. Noel agreed to return, backed out shortly after, and then immediately recommitted. By the time his signature was drying on the Thunder contract paperwork, Noel had fired Klutch.

With the Thunder looking to rebuild it will be very interesting to see how or if Noel fits into the club’s future plans.