Klutch Sports Group Founder Rich Paul, who serves as Cavaliers F LeBron James' agent, played "a big part in his homecoming," according to a front-page profile piece by Joe Drape of the N.Y. TIMES. Klutch Sports Group is "taking on the Ivy League-educated lawyers that populate Hollywood mega agencies" such as CAA. His success "traces back to a chance encounter with James 12 years ago that has put him at the nexus of a renaissance for not only the Cavaliers but also the psyche of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio." Paul had "earned a reputation as a smart, straight-shooting negotiator." Cavs GM David Griffin said, “He is a really good communicator and knows the basketball side real well -- I could see him on our side of the game someday." Drape notes Klutch Sports Group's first client "was the most coveted in all of sports" in James. Cavs F Tristan Thompson and Suns G Eric Bledsoe, along with Spurs G Cory Joseph and Wizards F Kevin Seraphin, "signed with Paul as well." But the "doubts and badmouthing among the tribe of 4-percenters were immediate and nasty." They "dismissed Paul as merely a frontman for James." Critics questioned "how someone with only a high school diploma could become a certified agent." Paul "shrugs it all off." He insists that Klutch "is all his and that he is off James’s payroll." James has been "lauded for his faithfulness to his roots," but Paul "deserves some of the credit for making the return possible." Griffin said, “We wouldn’t be where we are today if Rich hadn’t handled things the way he did” (N.Y. TIMES, 8/18).
