Arn Tellem Cites Rookie Scale, Max Contracts For Shifting Agent Goals

[RealGM Wiretap]

Arn Tellem pinpoints the shift in the player-agent dynamic to the advent of the rookie wage scale in 1996 and ensuing restrictions on max salaries.

With the amount of money a superstar player can earn already predetermined, agents became critical to players in exercising power over where he plays and with which teammates.

“That changed the perspective,” Tellem said. “If the salaries are roughly similar, what can a player control? It’s no longer financial. Where he has his say, then, where he has some control, is in the choice of where he plays and with whom he plays.”

Tellem helped Kobe Bryant join the Los Angeles Lakers in 1996 when he was in the draft.

Now many players such as Anthony Davis has pre-agency in which they attempt to get to their preferred team before becoming a free agent.

“Other players are seeing the power, influence and control that a great player like (LeBron) James has over an organization, and are striving for that same control, power and influence,” said Jeff Van Gundy. “It’s the next level. And now you have to ask yourself, which I always do on these questions, What’s next?”

Via S.L. Price/Sports Illustrated

[Risk Addict]

Desperate ploy. If you are going to get the max you don’t need an agent for the contract. Hire a lawyer. Use an agent only for advertising deals. Why just give so much money away for no true benefit. I want to see players keeping more money and less millionaire agents taking advantage of athletes

[Sam195]

Desperate ploy. If you are going to get the max you don’t need an agent for the contract. Hire a lawyer. Use an agent only for advertising deals. Why just give so much money away for no true benefit. I want to see players keeping more money and less millionaire agents taking advantage of athletes

The agents have their own union/association you can't represent a player just for endorsements or as a representative you also have to be their proxy in contract negotiations and hence earn a commission/service fee. Agents who don't follow the set out rules and code of conduct will lose their license to represent players in the nba. A player has the choice of not hiring an agent at all but that could end up being a very bad idea either on the endorsement front, being pressured to take a big hometown contract discount or both particularly if you are a superstar. The only two star players I can remember who didn't have agents were Dirk and Gilbert Arenas. Dirk was basically underpaid most of his career compared to what other superstars in his wavelength like Shaq, Kevin Garnett and Kobe were making. And Gilbert Arenas idiotically left $16m on the table with Wizards on his last max contract before his injury woes and the gun debacle that accelerated the demise of his career. Pretty sure he regrets passing on that $16m especially with what nba players who produced similar to him in his prime today are being showered in cash. Arenas also got his multi-million dollar Adidas deal voided which I'm guessing had weak contract language since he or an outside business adviser not an agent negotiated it. Compare this to Derrick Rose who is still getting shoe deal endorsement money like a superstar despite his career being greatly diminished due to to injury and his legal woes and that of his academic past with the NCAA going public. An agent likely negotiated a lot of protection mechanisms in place so Rose would not see his deal and most of the guaranteed money negotiated in it denied if he saw his production dip or was the victim of defamation and frivolous lawsuits hurting his public image.