One of the biggest storylines coming out of the Los Angeles Lakers‘ decision to select Bronny James in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft centered around his agent, Rich Paul. According to reports, the Kultch Sports founder and CEO called several teams to inform them that the 19-year-old would play professionally overseas if they drafted them.
Paul has now broken his silence on this much-talked-about issue.
Los Angeles Lakers News: Rich Paul Spills on Bronny James Intel Issue
Speaking in a recent interview on ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show, Paul pretty much admitted that he did call teams to warn them about Bronny’s plans to head to Australia if he didn’t land with the Lakers.
“There were several teams that had interest in Bronny, but you do have the calls and you talk about it,” he said. “And they understand it. That’s just relationships around the league. The Australia thing, that is what it is.”
"There were several teams that had interest in Bronny … The Australia thing, that is what it is."@RichPaul4 answered questions surrounding Bronny James on draft night 👀 (via @PatMcAfeeShow) pic.twitter.com/UtsQG3rmoV
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) July 16, 2024
While Paul did not directly admit to making the calls, he did not deny it. In fact, he seems to have implied that he did so for the benefit of these teams that would have lost Bronny to Australia if they had decided to draft him.
Whatever the case might be, the ploy worked. Bronny was still available when it was the Lakers’ turn to pick at the No. 55 spot.
The rest, as they say, is history, and there’s no denying that Paul played a key role in shaping it.
For More NBA Content:
Follow me on Twitter at @PaoloSongcoNBA, and follow us @HardwoodHeroics. You can also reach out to Paolo Songco via email at [email protected]. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest NBA news, click here!
