For an NBA player, finding an agent is of course the first priority after entering the business league.
For them, the agent is sometimes a legal advisor or a microphone. They can use the agent to say things they want to say but dare not say or are embarrassed to say. It will be good if the negotiation is successful, and it will not hurt the harmony if the negotiation is not successful.
In fact, normally, a basketball star's agent mainly provides four services. The first one is also commonly known to everyone - basketball and business negotiations. This includes basketball negotiations, such as participating in NBA collective bargaining.
Negotiate and sign contracts on behalf of players with NBA clubs, or negotiate with other basketball groups that are qualified to use players or their rights. In addition to basketball negotiations, there are also commercial negotiations, which ordinary fans are also very familiar with. Commercial negotiations are mainly
It is to become the image spokesperson of a company and product, such as the endorsement contract that Chen Jie signed with Samsung mobile phone before, or to help players contact and promote business activities. Nike's signature sneakers for Chen Jie are already in production and are waiting to be launched.
When the time comes, Chen Jie will participate in such commercial activities. Of course, there are also some public welfare activities with promotion themes. This is to maintain the image of the players. Chen Jie has not participated in such activities so far, but this year’s All-Star
During this period, Fei Gen has already contacted Chen Jie for several activities, and Chen Jie will go back to participate. In addition, he will accept some commercial gifts and sponsorships. These also fall into the category of business negotiations and require the help of an agent.
Player handling.
The second service content is the career development and guidance of agents for their players. For example, Michael Olajuwon first studied in Nigeria. Then he went to should. Then he went to California, and then joined the league.
The draft and becoming the No. 1 pick include agents. Another example is Nash. He first played football in Canada, later studied in a small school in the United States, and then participated in the league draft. He entered the NBA in 1996 and transferred to the Suns from the Mavericks.
The team, all of this, is also run by agents. Of course, Yao Ming, who is most familiar to Chinese fans, first played in the Shanghai Sharks, later came to the United States to participate in trial training, and then participated in the draft. All of this is due to the agent.
The third service is public relations and investment guidance. This time because of the New York Times report, Fagan rushed to Chicago to fulfill this service. Public relations and public image can be said to be the players' responsibility.
Potential value. Jordan participated in gambling back then. Later, Jordan's father passed away. His agent helped deal with these matters, which also prevented Jordan's image from being damaged or unnecessary misunderstandings with fans and teams. Rashidwar
Rice's criticism of Stern back then was also the agent's efforts to prevent the relationship between him and Stern from becoming too tense. In addition to maintaining the player's public relations and public image, this service also includes the agent helping the player invest.
And buy insurance. Of course, the decision-making power is still in the hands of the players. In fact, an analysis proves that when NBA players are playing, their average annual income is 4.1 million U.S. dollars. It can be said that this is a huge amount of wealth, but when they retire,
Fifty percent of players lose everything within three years. The reason is naturally that players lack tax planning, property guidance, investment guidance, and personal management guidance. All of these are the tasks of agents.
The last service is to protect the interests of customers, mainly to discover the traps of contracts that some players need to sign, to avoid players’ decision-making errors, or to stop some infringements of ball rights. Yao Ming’s contract choice between Nike and Reebok
, the Rockets' "Yao Dilemma" and the subsequent lawsuit between Yao Ming and Coca-Cola were all aided by agents.
It can be seen that for a basketball player, the role of an agent is still very important.
According to the commission standards of the player salary contract in the players' union, the upper limit of the agent's commission is 4% of the player's contract amount. This contract refers to the professional contract signed by the player and the team club, and Fagan is
From the contract between Chen Jie and the Bulls, 4% will be drawn as commission. As for commercial contract commissions, there are no specific regulations, ranging from 10-40%. Various commercial incomes are also different, such as product endorsements.
The contract commission is about 20%; for commercial competition contracts, the commission is 10%, etc. Chen Jie has an advantage in this regard, because the contract he signed with Fagan is that regardless of any commercial contract, Fagan will
Only 11% is taken. This ratio can be said to be very low. However, because of Chen Jie's high commercial value, Feigen's income is still quite high. In addition, the broker helps Qiu Yan with investment and insurance advice, and the charging standard is
It is about 5% of the contract amount.
In fact, in the NBA, agents are a very competitive industry. There are only 500 full-time agents; including part-time agents, the total number is 1,500. And NBA players, including marginal people, the total number is only more than 600, and the competition is very fierce.
Intense. Agents have both individual operations and corporate operations; the most famous of which is CAA, which was the earliest acting agency in Hollywood. In 2005, it expanded its business scope into the sports industry. Through poaching other companies' successful agents (including Henry
- Thomas, Leon Rose), the NBA once had a series of players such as James, Wade, Anthony, Doc, Iverson, Deron Williams, Paul, Ty Lawson and so on.
The father of Mike Conley of the Grizzlies, Conley Sr., is also an agent. When he found out that his son and his son's friend Oden were basically determined to enter the NBA, Conley Sr. decided to save money and take care of the business himself to manage it for his juniors.
Regarding financial affairs, he is regarded as the most bizarre broker.
There are also some players who don’t need an agent. For example, Duncan and Hill, they only need to find a legal agent to help review the contract when signing the contract, and they pay by the hour. This year’s Duncan’s contract is like this
It was signed, Duncan said, and he and Vicki found a coffee shop to settle the matter; and Vicki joked that he was deceived by Duncan; it was quite harmonious.
Of course, these are just exceptions. Many players still need agents. Since the agents’ income is divided from the players’ income, they will generally stay with the players and don’t have to worry about them.
of loyalty.
There are exceptions, however.
After all, with such fierce competition, there is no guarantee that everything will be harmonious. As a rule, agents should use their professional knowledge to fight for a good contract for the player, help the team and his family analyze the pros and cons of the choice, and assist
Players plan their sports life, develop ways for players to earn income, etc. In fact, sports agents or literary agents will extensively penetrate into the lives of clients and need to help clients deal with life matters, such as after being traded.
Players find a place to live, get a car; a relative of a player dies, and the player needs to be appeased, and so on. Culture and sports are not separated. We can compare them with the entertainment industry, which is generally the same. The difference between the literary and artistic circles and the sports circles is that one person
Whether you can make it in the sports circle mainly depends on your talent. Many sports talents emerge at a very young age; sports agents' competition for clients actually starts very early.
According to regulations, NBA players cannot accept promised gifts while in college, and they are not allowed to sign with an agent during college, otherwise they will lose the qualification to participate in NCAA competitions. That is to say, players will only hire an agent before participating in the NBA draft. And agents
The battle for clients will begin when players are in high school or even junior high school. Black players in the NBA account for the majority, and I don’t need to say more about the economic status of black people. Therefore, many agents use money to target players or players when acquiring clients.
Bribery by influential people around players is a common tactic. For players, in high school and college, they are still ordinary people. An unprecedented amount of money appears in front of them, and many people cannot refuse. Sometimes it is not always possible.
It's money, cars, credit card guarantees, signatures and contact information of current pop stars, and even matchmaking for players to find girls, providing marijuana, etc. I once read about such a case in an agent's autobiography. When an agent
When someone learned that the player's idol was Michael Jordan, he called Jordan on the spot. After that, the player communicated with his idol for a long time. The agent showed his influence on Jordan and got the future genius' contract. ncaa
This gives me a lot of headaches, and examples like this can be found almost every year; but by the time most cases are discovered, the player has already entered the NBA, and the NCAA cannot punish him. At most, he can punish the agent, which is a fine or something like that.
In addition, there are cases where bad agents will induce players to go to a team with higher short-term income but not easy for long-term development of players for commissions; or they may conceal the amount of commercial contracts and defraud players of their income.
Of course, there is also a flip side.
A good agent, or a team of agents; can motivate players in life and influence players to stay away from bad habits and bad people, just like what is described in the movie "Mr. Sweetheart". It can provide players with a lot of positive energy and help players deal with the media.
, manage the public image of players, develop players' market value, etc. We are familiar with Yao Ming's agent team, and the Yao team is very successful.
Team Yao has always been an excellent team of agents. They have helped Yao Ming achieve great success in business. In fact, Yao Ming’s campaign work before the NBA draft was also completed by members of Team Yao.
For superstars like Yao Ming, sometimes it may not be enough to find an agent, so they often need a team of agents.
The original members of Yao's team included Zhang Mingji: Yao Ming's distant relative, a graduate of Chicago Business School and the leader of Yao's team.
Dr. Hegerson: Zhang Mingji’s teacher, deputy dean of the Chicago Business School, and the person in charge of Yao Ming’s team in the United States; he was Yao Ming’s agent in the early days. Bill Duffy: Yao Ming’s American agent, responsible for Yao Ming’s team in the United States.
Brokerage agency affairs.
Lu Hao: Yao Ming's Chinese spokesperson, responsible for brokerage and agency affairs in China. Wang Xiaopeng: Lawyer. Bill Sanders: Consultant, market development expert.
Most agent teams include these members, agents, business consultants, legal advisors, etc. However, the Yao team is a team that only provides services to Yao Ming, and other agent teams are usually one-to-many.
Now, Chen Jie's idea is to form his own agent team, a one-on-one team like Yao Ming.
Fagan has many players, and Chen Jie cannot expect Fagan to serve him all the time.
And with Chen Jie's current influence, Feigen's services may be enough.
But Chen Jie will continue to develop and his influence will expand.
At that time, Fagan's team may not be able to handle Chen Jie's matter.
After experiencing this incident, Chen Jie also realized the dangers of the circle he faced.
Therefore, this plan is imperative! (To be continued...)
