“SAFE!” Nerlens Noel’s $58 million lawsuit vs. LeBron James’ agent Rich Paul gets huge decision
Follow Us
Rich Paul and Nerlens Noel
Nerlens Noel and mega agent Rich Paul are back in the NBA headlines. As recently, a judge from the Dallas-based District Court dismissed the lawsuit worth $58 million filed by Nerlens Noel against Rich Paul for doing “little to no work” in acquiring him deals or even a fair and satisfying contract. The lawsuit was originally filed in August last year and the final decision has been announced recently which is not siding with the center for the claims he has made.
Nerlens Noel’s career has been on a rollercoaster and the reason has been the unfortunate and never needed injuries all the time. He was drafted as the 6th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. He was projected to be a Top-3 pick but his torn left ACL got him down as not many organizations trust injured young guns. Rich Paul has been around the business for decades now and brought in the best on-court and off-court deals for his clients. But the story isn’t the same for Nerlens Noel as he lost a lot of money trusting Paul.
Nerlens Noel fired Rich Paul in 2020 after years of fake and failed promises. His lawsuit also blamed the agent for losing interest in him as a client once injuries knocked on the door. The center also claimed that there were teams interested in acquiring him over the years but Paul just didn’t entertain them as they never heard back from him. Under his influence, Noel also sold away a great deal with expectations of getting a max contract. But that never happened as he was never represented in that manner.
Nerlens Noel signed Rich Paul in 2017 and got convinced by him to not accept the four year $70 million extension offered by the Dallas Mavericks. As he showed him a door to get a max contract next season. But that door was never opened and eventually, injuries ruined his season with multiple surgeries scheduled. So it’s fair to say that under the influence of LeBron James’ agent he fumbled the bag.
After that season Rich Paul also lost interest in his client and offered nothing good on the table as claimed by Nerlens Noel. The richest deal he got was from the New York Knicks worth $32 million for three years and it came in after he fired the mega agent. According to the district court judge, the dispute should now be sorted out in NBPA arbitration.
Will Nerlens Noel be able to get some money out from Rich Paul?
Federal Judge Jane J. Boyle has sent the dispute to NBPA as reported by Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal. Since it’s around a player and an agent from the league. While doing so she noted: “Any and all disputes between the Player and the Agent involving the meaning, interpretation, application, or enforcement of this Agreement or the obligations of the parties under this Agreement shall be resolved exclusively through the Arbitration procedure set forth in Section 5 of the NBPA Regulations Governing Player Agents.”
A settlement would be made by NBPA but blaming Rich Paul for mismanaging Nerlens Noel’s career will be tough. As that’s exactly the opposite of what the world knows the mega agent for. The chances for the Pistons Center (Got traded by the Knicks to the Pistons this offseason) to get a part of his bag back are good and he may get a good amount back but nothing can be predicted or claimed about it. As now everything totally depends upon NBPA and the decision they make.
Do follow us on Google News | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Stay Updated!
Ritik Malik
(1743 Articles Published)