BDA's Bill Sanders Talks About Marketing Greg Oden

Sanders Discusses Oden's Marketability

BDA Sports agent Bill Sanders, who reps Trail Blazers C Greg Oden, the top pick in last week’s NBA Draft, is featured in a Q&A by the WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Adam Thompson.  Oden has landed endorsement deals with Nike, Spalding, Topps, 2K Sports and Raymond Weil, and Sanders said, “I think the statement that big men aren’t marketable is a fallacy. ... What makes a person marketable doesn’t have to do with size or position or skin color.  ... [Heat C] Shaquille O'Neal and [Rockets C] Yao Ming are as marketable as anybody in the league.  If there’s a dozen truly marketable players in the NBA, two of them are centers.”  Sanders said he and Oden “don’t want to rush anything,” claiming he “didn’t ask one person for a deal [during recent meetings on Madison Avenue].  That’s not what we were there for.”  Meanwhile, Thompson notes Cavaliers F LeBron James has been criticized for not signing a petition denouncing the situation in Darfur likely due to his ties with Nike.  Sanders said he told one of his clients who asked for advice on the subject, "'Let’s find a way for you to put pressure in appropriate places without causing embarrassment.  Embarrassment I don’t think works in China.  That’s not the effective way to get change.’  So would I say not to sign it?  I would say educate yourself on the issues, dig really deep and go with your heart” (WSJ.com, 7/5).

JUST DESSERTS: To capitalize on the Blazers' selection of Oden, Staccato Gelato in Northeast Portland is selling “Oden Berry” gelato, which it says is made from strawberry, chocolate chip “and a hint of victory” (Portland OREGONIAN, 7/4).