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How to hire a basketball agent
Having a basketball agent — No Borders Basketball Blog
WRITTEN BY Manoj
Having a basketball agent or being apart of a sports agency is a topic that I haven’t coved until now on purpose. In the sea of agents and agencies, you the player just becomes a commodity that is used to generate revenue. Most agents and agencies just don’t care about you as a person. The day you get too old and not good enough you get dropped like a filthy habit. If you want to know what I mean, watch the movie Jerry Maguire.
I know there are basketball players out there desperate to go on and play pro basketball but it is important that you don’t get burned. Signing a contract with an agent or agency has repercussions, so let me break things down for you so that you could avoid getting into trouble.
How basketball agents and sports agencies work
Agents and agencies make money from basketball players or all athletes they represent, for that matter, in two main ways.
- By taking a decent cut out of your pay (a percentage of what you earn)
- By getting paid a sum of money which is charged to the club when the athlete signs
The first method of taking a percentage of your wage is more common for the bigger sporting contracts.![]()
Like the NBA and big European league team players. Most of the imports and players I played with during my career, were not on massive money playing basketball. I think the imports at Guildford were on about £30,000 for a 5 month season. I know their agents took a once off fee which the club payed for. Not having spoken to players that got a reoccurring fee deducted from their wages, it’s hard for me to comment around the process. All I know is the money was wired to the players account minus the agents fees.
Now how much an agent takes depends on the contract the athlete signs. I’ve heard around 10%, which is substantial. Especially if you are on a big contract like the NBA boys. Contracts vary and there’s plenty of them out there. I can’t stress this enough. If you are looking to sign with an agent make sure you understand what you are signing up for, and get independent legal advice if you don’t.
Services an agent offers
Again, it’s hard for me to comment at length as to what agents and agencies offer players as it varies from agency to agency.
But from what I have seen with my teammates, agents offer:
- recruiting for other teams
- negotiate higher wages
- pay and fly you over to PROAMS and exposure camps
- ensure that the team is taking care of you as per contract obligations
These are but a few services that I have seen personally offered. Some agencies for the bigger athletes have handled shoe deals and promotions. It’s a lucrative market out there especially if you are a superstar basketball player.
Signing with an agent will lose your college eligibility
The up and coming generation of basketball players these days want to forgo college and get in to the professional basketball ranks immediately. I have 20 year old kids telling me that they want to skip college and go pro because they are not getting any younger. Are you serious?
I feel that more and more young basketball players will look to ways of going pro sooner and one such way is to sign with an agent.
Here lies the problem. Most young basketball players that I see are not mature for the professional game. They haven’t grown into their bodies and do not have the physical ability to compete with seasoned adult basketball players. I’ve seen this first hand playing summer league in England. Young hot shot 18 years old getting demolished because they are not used to the physical nature of pro basketball.
This is why any young basketball player who is looking to go pro should take caution. Signing with an agent will see you lose your amateur ranking; in other words you will be ineligible to play college basketball. Ruling out your options to go play college basketball in USA and improve your game.
If you are a young basketball player; is ruling out your options for college worth signing with an agent that MIGHT be able to get you a pro gig? I stress the word might because nothing is guaranteed.
How can you find a basketball agent?
Here’s a few steps to follow to get in contact with an agency.
- Go to www.hoopsagents.com
- Select the country you want to play in.
- Hit the tab titled Agents.
- A list of agencies for that country will appear. Copy the agency name and Google it.
- Find the agencies website and use their contact details to get in touch with them.
Before you contact the agents I strongly suggest you do two things:
- Read the article I wrote “How to write a basketball resume”
- Buy the book “Build your basketball profile” this book breaks down everything you need to have a good basketball profile to share with agents and scouts. You can find out more about the book HERE. It’s only $5 so don’t be a tight ass. This is after all your dream of playing pro basketball right?
My experience with a basketball agent
When I finished playing college basketball I came back to Australia with the intent to go play professional basketball somewhere in Europe. I had been talking to Shaun King, a Canadian import here in Australia that played for the Sheffield Arrows, a team in the second division in UK.
He set me up with a great gig to play on this team, the only catch, I wasn’t getting paid. They were happy to provide me with free accomodation and camps to coach kids and earn some money. Looking back on this now, it was a pretty good deal to get started with a pro basketball career. But I was too full of myself.
The reason I didn’t take this offer up was, firstly my inflated ego about being a division 1 basketball player but also the lies I was fed by a basketball agent.
When I cam back to Australia I tried every avenue to become a pro basketball player, one of these avenues was to try and sign with an agent. I spoke to an agent called Cedi Fredrick who’s agency he represented escapes me. He spoke to me about his connections to various basketball clubs in Europe and how he could hook me up with a pro gig. He even name dropped a Greek basketball club that was willing to pay €250,000.
Now, I never thought that I was a €250,000 player, I just wanted to play in England and get decent money (anything over AUD$40,000 would do).
This agent inflated my ego so much that I thought the offer by Sheffield was just ridiculous. He promised me that I’d get a gig paying me enough to live well.
Reality, this agent was full of shit. He did call and email me a few times but after about four weeks of talking, things went silent, real quick. He went MIA and wasn’t able to be contacted. I called him several times, left messages but still I didn’t get a reply. So ended my confidence with agents.
My Advice
When dealing with agents approach with caution! They can promise a basketball player the world and deliver nothing. If you are a junior player speaking with basketball agents has added risk as you might be in violation of NCAA rules, which potentially could see you ineligible to go play college basketball.
In my opinion agents should be dealt with on a case by case basis. Before signing anything with an agent, read through all the paperwork thoroughly. If you do not understand anything in the contract, get independent legal advice.
It is a ploy for some agents to pressure you into signing on the spot. Do not feel pressured, if they insist walk away knowing that you just dogged a bullet.
Be diligent, there’s plenty of sharks in the ocean. Be careful where you swim!
The Agency Process for NBA Players
Sports Agents In The NBA
As an up and coming young basketball player, you might be asking yourself whether or not you should get a sports agent to represent you. Sports agents can help an athlete in many different ways, both during the player’s career and throughout his retirement. They can help you to get the best possible NBA contract, to obtain lucrative endorsement deals, and to ensure your health and well being is attended to.
How To Choose An Agent for your NBA Career
You should note that it is not a simple task to select a sports agent. Most likely, this person will be with you for the rest of your career, possibly for the rest of your life. Careful consideration must be taken when deciding which sports agent to hire.
A number of aspects to think about are discussed below.
Reputation
You are unlikely to be the agent’s first client; therefore you should be able to ascertain information about his or her reputation. Some agents are known for being hard workers, others for being hard to work with. Indeed, some representatives can even cause trouble between players and teams. Research possible sports agents by asking teammates and coaches as well as by reading reviews online. Naturally, there are always good and bad things to say about a person but try to determine the agent’s overall reputation and personality to find out if they will be suitable for you.
Cost
In a perfect world, you could hire the greatest, most experienced sports agent in the business. Unfortunately, such a star representative is not always affordable. Most sports agents take a percentage of your earnings as their salary – this can range from 10 to 25% of the total sum negotiated in a contract. This provides an incentive for them to make the best possible deal.
However, this does not necessarily mean that you should go with the agent who charges the lowest percentage price. After all, a low price could be an indication of inadequate negotiation skills or deficiencies in other areas – which ultimately will cause you to lose more money than if you had just paid the higher fee.
Integrity
The person you select to be your sports agent should be someone of integrity and honesty. Some agents go astray when tempted by huge sums of money. Sports history is full of sad stories about athletes being deceived by agents and robbed of millions of dollars. You should select an agent whom you like both as a person and as a businessman. If you are in any way uncomfortable with your sports agent, you should consider finding another. This is a person you will be depending on for your brand and for your career.
Accessibility
You will want your representative to be as accessible as possible. Too many sports agents take on a lot of clients and thus are extremely busy and unreachable (think Jerry McGuire).
The ideal sports agent represents just enough athletes that they can stay abreast with the latest news and trends of the industry but can also be easily reached if you need assistance. If an emergency occurs, you are going to need your agent there pronto to help handle the situation.
How Agents Help Procure Contracts
One of the main reasons you may be thinking about employing a sports agent is to negotiate a contract with the NBA. Whether you are signing a rookie contract or renewing an existing agreement, a sports agent can help you to get the best deal possible. They are skilled at negotiating things like salary increases, injury benefits, and restriction reductions. Moreover, they will be able to steer you away from a bad deal and towards a better opportunity.
A good sports agent has an in-depth understanding of the sports industry and experience working within it. In addition, a great many sports agents have legal backgrounds, making them even more knowledgeable about the contract process.
He or she will be able to explain to you what each term and condition means on paper and in practice. If you have any questions or concerns, an agent is there to help you.
An Agent’s Role While You Play
There are a lot of elements that go into being a professional basketball player other than simply playing the game. These outside obligations can cause you no end of frustration. For example, talking with the press. Getting good publicity and spotlight can be difficult to accomplish without a coherent PR strategy. One of the most important functions of an agent, while you play for the NBA, is to generate positive interest in you.
In a similar way, a sports agent can promote your excellent performance and good reputation to garner lucrative endorsement deals. Athletic careers tend to be short, which is why finding sponsorship opportunities while at the height of your career is so crucial – plenty of athletes live off royalty fees once the retire from basketball. An agent is able to this by networking and promoting your brand while you focus on winning games.
An Agent’s Role At The End Of Your Career
Sports agents typically have excellent planning skills, it is one of the qualities that makes them so good at scheduling press conferences and TV spots. If you have a good agent, he or she will put these organization talents to work helping you arrange your life post-professional basketball. There are a lot of things this could entail, such as helping you enroll in college to finish your degree, working with you to prepare a solid resume, or perhaps simply putting you in touch with employers who you may be interested in working for.
During the final seasons of a player’s career, an agent will work doubly hard to procure sponsorship deals. Part of the reason for this is because the agent gets a cut of the profits but mostly endorsement deals are obtained in order to provide you with an additional source of revenue.
The career of a basketball player is a short one and athletes are not widely known for their money management abilities.
An agent will help you to manage your personal finances, for example by investing them in the stock or property markets, so that you will be able to live out the rest of your days without falling into bankruptcy – a worryingly common fate for former athletes.
Continuing Presence Throughout Your Retirement
The role of the sports agent does not stop when you retire from professional basketball. On the contrary, retirement is the time that having an agent can really be of use. Making sound investment decisions is not an easy thing to do and while an agent may not be able to tell you which stock is going to rise next, they will be able to steer you away from bad or fraudulent ventures. An agent is a continuing presence throughout your retirement, someone who safeguards not just your fiscal health but also your physical and emotional well-being.
The perfect sports agent will stick by your side through thick and thin. They have many roles such as an advisor, a manager, a legal consultant, and a friend.
So don’t leap at the first agent who offers you his hand. Find somebody who you can really get along with and will want in your life for years to come. Contact us for more information. Call (844) 321-0000 or fill out our convenient online contact form.
"When I started working and found out the real salaries of the players, I was very surprised." Basketball Agent Guide - The Interception - Blogs
Editor's note: You are reading the user blog "The Interception", which tells about the life of European basketball. Subscribe and stay up to date.
Well-known basketball agent Stanislav Ryzhov (ProTeam Agency) told Intercept about agency work. How much do the gray cardinals of sports get, how do they bring "foreign" players to Russia, where do they get prices for their basketball players, why do they "leak" information to insiders and why it is already impossible to imagine the sports world without agents.
This is perhaps the most complete story about the activities of agents working in Russian basketball.
It is best to listen to a conversation with Ryzhov, it is available in three parts on any of the platforms:
🎧 Apple Podcasts
🎧 Yandex.Music
🎧 Google Podcasts
🎧 Castbox
🎧 Don't forget to Mave9. rate the podcast and write a review - this will greatly help in promotion.
For those who like to read more, "Interception" has collected the main thing from a two-hour conversation.
About the need for agents
I can't imagine a situation where the team directly communicates with the player about the terms of the contract. Previously, about 30 years ago, it was interesting for clubs to bypass agents - what a sin to hide, a basketball player must play basketball and cannot master any legal aspects. Then the teams did not hide, such as why we need this cunning agent, we are now quickly persuading the player to our conditions - that's all. It seems to me that now the market has already become civilized, and even the teams are not interested in the disappearance of agents.
Often the agent helps the club not against the interests of his ward - settles visa issues or can talk to the player. Maybe something worries the basketball player, something makes him worry. He may not be ready to open up to the club and the coach, but he will speak frankly with the agent. It seems to me that the presence of an intermediary is now beneficial to everyone.
About strange options in players' contracts
In Russian basketball about 15 years ago, there were options in the player's contract for the minimum playing time. And if the club does not give him this minimum time, then the club pays extra, the player's salary increases. In simple terms: so that it would not be a shame to sit on the bank. It's wild, but it was 10-12 years ago. You can imagine yourself as a coach. You should not think about the game and not about winning, but about this.
About partnerships with foreign agents
Russia is a relatively rare country that does not defend the interests of local agents.
For example, in France, in Israel, in Italy, the presence of a local agent is enshrined in regulations and is mandatory. That is, an American agent cannot make a deal directly, the league simply will not register a contract. These are the right things, we all must defend the interests of our compatriots - players, coaches, agents.
I'll tell you what it looks like. The club has a request for some position, for example, they need the first number with certain dimensions. And you look at the list of partners and try to understand if there is something suitable there. Then you try to understand - perhaps some American agent with whom you have not worked with until now has such a player, and you are trying to get in touch with him. You dial him, introduce yourself, and then he either says that you can work, or answers that he has some other Russian partner. You tell the club that you need to keep contact with someone else. That's it: either you sign the player or you don't.
If I sign, the money will be divided according to personal agreements.
By default, this should always be fair, 50/50. But there are nuances. For example, the hardest thing for an American agent is to get a player, to sign himself. And, of course, for this they resort to all means, including illegal ones. Stimulation of parents, coaches, the player himself, promise him conditional goodies. In this case, the American agent just says: "Stas, you know, we have to work 50/50, but in the case of this player, I spent a very large amount on recruiting him, please move over."
About the job search process for the player
Depends on the player. If, for example, this is an American, for whom there may be demand throughout Europe, then the work must be done on all fronts - and, so to speak, spamming, as we call it, and then pinpoint fixing in those places where this player can arouse interest.
Again, our market is small, everyone knows everyone, and I don't send to 100 clubs, but to 8. Because we have 8 of them in Russia.
Why be lazy, I will offer them everywhere anyway. But you also have information: some player ruined relations with someone a long time ago, somewhere in this position there is a local star. Then there is simply no point in offering it, you will only lose time or even cause some kind of anger.
It is almost impossible to change your mind about the players - due to the extreme tightness of the market. Players with a dubious reputation - not in terms of drugs and booze, but, for example, with a difficult character - find a job very hard. This is a team sport. The institution of reputation exists, what else. it is extremely difficult to change the opinion of a player. It is possible, you need to look for some steps, but it is very difficult.
About the agency fee
In the vast majority of Europe it is accepted that clubs pay the agency fee. This is 10% of the player's contract. But there are certain cases when the agent pays the player - apparently, it is technically more convenient for these clubs.
Why they do this is probably better to ask them, but I can guess that some clubs save themselves from litigation with agents. Let me give you a simple example: a player has an agent and signs up for a club on a long-term contract, but for some reason in the middle of the action he fires the agent. And then it turns out that a new agent comes, and the club not only has to negotiate with the new agent, but also pay him. And the former must also pay. From a legal point of view, this is easily solved, but from a practical point of view, it is easier to “sew” agency fees into salaries.
I get agency once a year. You sign a contract with the club, and the date of payment of agency fees is written there. It is more convenient for some clubs to pay earlier, for others it is more convenient to pay later. Depends on sources of funding and dates of receipt of funds.
About commission delays
Sometimes it happens that I take advantage of these delays, including a position of strength in terms of signing a player.
For example, you understand that the club has doubts between players - yours and not yours. But at the same time, he owes money. I don't think it's some great sin on my part to help my player and tell the club: "Listen, you don't pay me, the main thing is to pay the player and take another player."
If a club doesn't want a player at all, you can't force him. This is an alliance doomed to failure. But if the club has doubts between two close players, and you understand that both your player and the player of your competitor will be plus or minus the same in this position, I don’t see anything wrong with pushing a little. I think this is also part of the job.
About "cuts"
What is "cut"? Probably when they see that the club is signing a certain number of players from some agent. And, probably, "saw"! Have you yourself tried to "cut" something from the player? From the transfer - yes, okay, probably, this is possible, when the player himself often does not even know how much he is being bought or sold for.
And from the player? Go up to him and "cut" something! Even if you told him in advance that the salary would be 500, and then suddenly it became 600. As soon as you signed the contract, the human essence immediately considers these 600 as his own. Therefore, as soon as the time comes to take this “cut” away, everyone will immediately know about it. It is clear that outside of training and matches, the players have nothing to do, they communicate very actively, go somewhere, go to restaurants, and this will be the first topic for discussion. Yes, and try to pick them up, this money. Everything is legal with the person, the contract is signed.
Where market prices come from
This is one of the tricky aspects of being a European agent. In the US, everything is open, all salaries, any fan in two clicks will see how much any player in any North American league receives. I explain to the American agents that they have a relatively simple job, they know how to set the price and how much to ask the club, not being afraid to sell too cheap or, on the contrary, seem like a grabber.
You just need to rely on the salary of a player who is similar in level, in your opinion. The club can already answer something, but these are normal civilized negotiations. Everyone knows how much Petya, Vasya and Seryozha get.
Europe has a completely dark forest. Everything we know is based on insider leaks. Very often, salaries are so false that many clubs find it funny when they say how much their player receives. When I started working, I was very surprised when I found out the real salaries.
The answer to the question is that prices are taken from the ceiling. Experienced agents and those who have a large number of players and close contacts with clubs, of course, still know the real salaries and use this in negotiations. For example, some player receives so much, why are you ready to offer this amount to my client. To this, of course, you always hear that the situation has changed, the economy is going down and the coronavirus in general. But it is still turning into civilized negotiations.
But the exchange of information between countries is not always so transparent. There are so many "drains" in the summer that some player will receive such money. You sit, read, and you, for example, have a player of a similar level. You come to the club and say: "So and so, I want so much." In the club, they twist a finger at the temple or obscenely express themselves in response to you. You go to the player and say: "You know, the offer is like this." And he answers you the same: “Wait, Stas, I read yesterday that this one gets how much. Wow, how they appreciate me, are you a bad agent or the club underestimates me, that's it, I was offended by them. This closeness makes the market wild.
How to become a basketball agent
It is very difficult to become an agent in Russia because of the very small number of teams. A very tight market. Even when we started, it was 2008, there were 13 Russian teams and there were big budgets. Everyone was carrying legionnaires, you could come in.
I actually came in from the street. I didn’t have Russian wards at all, somewhere it just played the fact that I knew the language at a normal level, because I worked as an international manager at Spartak. Many in our country do not speak English, at first I was just a link, not even an agent.
As for legal education, I have sued 5-6 times. The law is strictly case-based, and if you have a head in place and you speak the language, then you can read previous processes similar to yours and predict the outcome with a high degree of probability. After one of the cases that we won, the lawyer asked why I needed a lawyer at all, if I myself wrote all the answers correctly.
What does it take to become an agent? License, foreign language and understanding of the sport. Important: Just because you played basketball doesn't mean you understand it. It has been proven by many examples that when you see the sport from the inside and the outside, these are two big differences.
A lot of fans and journalists understand basketball much better than the players, simply because of the hours they have watched.
About “leaks” to insiders
The main reason for “leaks” is to increase the price of a player in this way. Dilute one club, "drain" about the interest of another.
Another reason is to show your influence in the market, that you are negotiating with these people, you are negotiating with them.
There is a third reason. Some players are restless comrades, and if they sit without work at the beginning of June, then everything burned down, panic. Someone "feeds" their wards with such "plums". But it also has the opposite effect, because your competitors can do the same. And these anxious players who read twitters and instagrams sit and think: “This one subscribes there, this one here, but why not me?” It's hard to explain that 80% of it is not true, then even the clubs laugh at it, they often don't even know the player's agents.
If you want to know more about the work of agents, then go back to the beginning of the text and choose any podcast platform that is convenient for you. In the issues, Stanislav Ryzhov tells even more and in more detail.
And if you love Russian basketball, subscribe to the Interception Telegram channel — I write about it there every day.
Photo: proteam.pro; personal archive of Stanislav Ryzhov
8 most influential agents of European basketball - I Feel Devotion - Blogs
Sports.ru shows those who work behind the scenes of European basketball.
Alex Saratsis (left)
Agency: Octagon Basketball
The most famous customers : Yannis Adetkumbo, Luol Deng, Dennis Schreder, Tyrens Kinsa, John Dibble 9000. many NBA stars: Steph Curry, Rudy Gay, Wes Matthews. Saratsis joined the company in 2009 and headed the international direction.
Guy Tsucker
Agency : ZUCKER International
The most famous customers: Markin Gortat (left him last month), Manuchar Marcoishvili, Tabo Sepholosh, Schlengelia Tornoi 9000,0002 even in the student helped talented Israeli students receive scholarships to US colleges. Then it grew into a small agency based in Boston, but mainly working with European players.
Mark Fleischer
agency : Entersport
Most famous clients : David Bertans, Aaron Baines
He inherited the agency business: his father Larry Fleischer founded the agency in 1983 and ran the business of Bill Watton, Phil Jackson, Pat Riley… NBA European players. It was he who represented the interests of Divats, Marciulionis and Volkov, and then the next generation of European players: Okur, Parker, Raja, Bodiroga, Sasha Djordjevic and Andrei Kirilenko.
So gradually Fleischer's business interests gradually moved to the European championships.
Rada Filipovich
Agency : BDA Sports Management
The most famous customers: Dimitris Itudis, Nikola Vuchievich, Anthony Renolf, Alessandro Gentile, Danny Grin, Zora and Goranchi, Gistes, Donchi, Donchi Pond.
Filipović has been playing basketball since childhood, first as a player, then as a fitness coach. When he was studying in America, he met one of the most famous NBA agents, Bill Duffy, with whom they created BDA Sports Management.
Filipović handled the European direction - recruiting European players (Marko Jaric, Jaka Laković, Matjaz Smodis) and promoting American clients (Travis Hansen, Antonio Grainger).
nickname Lotsos
Agency : Sports Promotion
The most famous customers: Milos Theodosich, Keith Langford, Kostas Kaymakoglu, Patrick Yang,
Initially, the agency of Niza Nico Loca with the export of American basketball players to Europe.
Early notable clients include European basketball super snipers Walter "The Truth" Berry, Alphonso Ford and Willie Anderson. Although the office has since relocated to Athens, Americans remain Sports ProMotion's specialty.
Luciano Kapikkioni
Agency : Interperformanes
The most famous customers : Svetislav Peshich, Mark Gasol, Manu Ginobili, Tiago Splitter
CapiCkioni was famous as one of the “reservations”, and the residents of the residents of the rhules. European stars in the NBA - it was he who represented the interests of Tony Kukoch, Predrag Danilovic, Arvydas Sabonis, Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
In 2000, his lively nature brought him to St. Petersburg, where the Lions club was created specifically for the newly formed Euroleague. The team could not participate in the Russian championship and lasted only a season, and Capicchioni left to conquer new frontiers.
Now his agency deals not only with basketball, but also with football and tennis.
FIMICH
Agency : Altisport
The most famous customers: Alexey Swede, Sergey Bazarevich, Ainars Bagatskis, Vitaliy Fridzon, Breesir Lonchar, Peteri Kononen, Tyris Rais, Jeims Ogeremi Parigo, Jeremai Parigo, Jereemi Parigo, Jereemi Parigo, Jereemi Parigo, Jereemi Parigo, Jereemi Parigo, Jereemi Parigo, Jereemi Parigo, Jeremai Parigo, Jereemi Parigo, Jereemi Parigo. Dusko Ivanovich, Rimas Kurtinaitis
Fimich's main client is the Khimki basketball club as a whole. Last week, the AltiSport agency turned out an intricate combination: Dusko Ivanovic replaced Rimas Kurtinaitis as head coach.
This summer, AltiSport reached new heights: Aleksey Shved became the highest paid player in European basketball.
Mishko Rozhnatovich
Agency : Beobasket
The most famous customers: Vasilis spasuls, Dushan Ivkovich, Dushko Vuioshevich, Nikola Yokich, Boban Maryanovich, Dario Sharicich, Mirza Tedvich, Kails Bobby Dixon, Gal Mekel, Quincy Miller, Pero Antic
0s, when some money appeared in basketball, he retrained as a basketball agent - in 95 he founded the BeoBasket agency, which initially rested on his acquaintances in Serbian basketball.-Step-5.jpg/aid43486-v4-728px-Play-21-(Basketball)-Step-5.jpg)
