This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy. Just drop in some details about yourself and see if you're eligible to save money when you bundle your home and auto policies. The process only takes minutes, and it could mean hundreds more in your pocket. Visit progressive.com after this episode to see if you could save. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates.
Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states. This is the Rich Eisen Show.
The three for the win, and go! From the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. He is the owner of the Indianapolis Colts, Jim Mercy. I always say it's hard finding one person that doesn't love Rich Eisen. We certainly appreciate all you do for the NFL.
Earlier on the show, CBS Sports Broadcaster Jim Nance bills tackled Dion Dawkins. Still to come, founder and CEO of Clutch Sports Group, Rich Paul. And now, it's Rich Eisen.
All right, everybody. Hour number three of the Rich Eisen Show is live on the air. We've already had a great two hours, and it's about to get better because joining us, let's get right to him. He's sitting right here on the Rich Eisen Show, the founder and CEO of Clutch Sports Group, which is just getting bigger and bigger and bigger.
Rich Paul is here on the program. Good to see you. How are you, sir?
Thank you. I'm great. How about yourself? I am great.
One of the first questions I want to ask you is, how did you take in last night's game? Like, are you just sitting at home? No, I was actually sitting in the office.
I was still in the office. And, you know, it was one of those games where it was kind of weird because Indiana got off to such a great start. They didn't miss.
Right. And then you started to see New York in true New York fashion just grind their way back into things to go up at the half. And then, obviously, when Brunson picked up his fifth foul, you thought, okay, well, this is a time for Indiana to make a run. It actually went the other way, crowds in it, et cetera.
But I said, and I was in my office with some of my friends and a colleague, and I said, you know what? You can never give up on this Indiana team. And right when Naismith started to make shot after shot after shot.
They didn't miss again. Yeah. And I'm like, okay. But, you know, Rick Carlisle is a really good coach. And I don't think people, because he's not as loud as sometimes other coaches may have been in the past.
Right. He's, but everywhere he's went, his teams have been always prepared. Yesterday he made an adjustment where he subbed Obie Toppin for, or he subbed Miles Turner for Obie Toppin. That was a huge sub because that allowed them to be a lot faster in their switches on the defensive end. And then Obie Toppin, in true Obie Toppin fashion, he's so athletic. They ran a side pick and roll.
He rolled, and I think it was Halliburton, I think, that found him. Once he gets there, that's a dunk. He actually got fouled in that play.
It should have been an and one. Well, I mean, Toppin getting blocked by OG, getting the ball back, and then going underneath the basket and laying in. He made that same play against the Cavs. The same play, that thing, not the block, but that.
Right. But the fact that he was able to have his shot blocked, get it back, and then have the presence of mind and do what he did. But I'm just wondering, are you watching as a fan? I mean, you've been in the business for so long here. I watch as a fan too. I think people don't realize how much basketball I watch and actually know. I think when people think about agents, those agents don't really know basketball at all.
They know a lot of stats. It's like, hey, you had a great game. But it's a little bit different for me. And obviously I played in high school and been around the best player in the game forever. Ever? Yeah.
I mean, I lose track of how many years at this point. But no, I watch as a fan. I watch all basketball, women's, men's, kids. I just love the game. I mean, I was in the gym early yesterday morning. I think I got there at 7 a.m. with our NIL guys. Our pre-draft guys wasn't even on the court yet.
So, it's always been a passion of mine, honestly. I mean, that shot that Halliburton puts up hits the heel. I mean, all the basketball you've seen, have you ever seen anything like that? I mean, where it hits, it goes straight up and down the chimney and didn't even touch rim. That's one of those things where, first of all, he was mad he didn't get his foot back.
I thought he actually did. So did everybody. But that's just one of the signs, man. It's just like sometimes it's your time. Now, I don't know if that means you get past this series or you win it all. But I've watched Indiana a lot this year. That's been their thing all year. And people can't forget this team was in the Eastern Conference Finals last year.
So, they're experienced as it pertains to their positioning today. And they believe. They believe they can win this series. Well, clearly they don't blink coming back the way they did to eliminate the Bucs and then eliminate the Cavs. And then you've got to wonder, again, I know there's still lots of basketball left to be played. I said at the beginning of the show, it's got a Kirk Gibson, Freddy Freeman, Game 1 type home run feel where you're going to wonder when you look back, did the series end on that moment?
It's tough to come back from a morality perspective. The Knicks do have some guys, obviously some winners. So we'll see.
I think Brunson will be fine. We'll see what happens with some of the other guys. But I actually thought it would be a split. I actually thought the Knicks would get the first game just because of the home crowd, et cetera, blah, blah, blah. But I did think the Pacers would split.
We talked about it yesterday in the gym. But, you know, there's still a series that I could imagine still goes 7 or it could be over in 5. That momentum swing in the playoffs, what guys do when they go home to prepare themselves mentally to get back up to that level of play where they forget about what happened yesterday. You've got to have a short memory in our league. In the regular season games and definitely in the playoffs, that can't linger.
But people are human, so we'll see what happens. We'll see Rich Paul here in studio, founder and CEO of Clutch Sports Group. We're going to have a couple segments with Rich.
Thrilled to explore the studio space, if you will. Let's just jump into, again, you mentioned being around the best player in the game. When did you first meet LeBron James? When did Rich Paul and LeBron James first meet? Early 2000s in the airport, Akron-Catton Airport. I was flying to Atlanta. He was flying to Atlanta. I was wearing a warm moon jersey, which is one of my favorite quarterbacks.
I actually liked the jersey, the color of the jersey. He noticed it and questioned about it. That was the start of our existence of knowing each other. You just struck up a conversation in the airport. Well, it came to me, yeah. That was it. There's no fabricated storyline to it. I found this out 20 years later. What happened was he was leaving to go to the airport.
The last thing he saw on his television was a music video in which the artist Fabulous was having his video. He had the actual jersey on. The warm moon jersey?
The warm moon as well. Like a Houston Oilers? Yeah, Houston Oilers.
The baby powder blue one. So when he got to the airport and he seen me in that same jersey that he had just saw on TV, that gave him the, I'm not going to use the word courage, but I guess, the energy to strike up the conversation with me, what kind of jersey is that, blah, blah, blah. And I just so happened to be in that business at that time. And I said, you know, were you guys going to Atlanta? We was at the same gate actually. And got on the flight, landed in Atlanta, get to the baggage claim, here he comes again.
A couple of gentlemen was with him. And I said, look, here's my business card. When you get to the store, go here. If I'm there, great. If I'm not there, just say my name.
They'll give you my discount. And I didn't think nothing of it. That was what I thought would be the end of it. And obviously it wasn't. So you ever think like if you wore a different jersey? Oh, all the time. By the way, I was a lowlife. And what I mean by that is not like lowlife, meaning like I wore all Ralph Lauren. Like I had Ralph Lauren salt and pepper shakers, place mats, towels, you know, bedding.
Finally appointed. Clothes, everything. I could have easily wore something Ralph that day. And I could take it a step further. I could have also just flew out of Cleveland. Why are we flying out of Akron-Canton?
There's a flight every hour on the hour. But a friend of mine who booked the flight, thank God, he was a little cheaper than I was. And he wasn't thinking about the time. He was looking at the price of the flight versus we got to drive an hour to get to the airport anyway.
So time is money in my world. But luckily for me, he did the opposite. And yeah, there's a lot of things. I could have not went. I could have not been in a great mood to speak to people.
There's a lot of things. But, you know, it was fate. And I think the opportunity that came from just that initial meet, you know, I have to be over appreciative about the opportunity that was awarded to me.
And then I respected that opportunity so much by building something like what I've been able to build today along with my team. Oh, my gosh. No question about it.
I mean, it's a top of the mountain type stuff. And so when did, though, did you guys really just that's how you met. But what did you say? OK, now we are going to go into business together. No, not even close, Rich. No, you fast forward in the movie so fast. That was we he actually came back to Akron and asked me, could I come there to Akron?
Because he has some guys that wanted some of the jersey. So I drove down that turned into, hey, I have a tournament. Are you able to go? That turned into, hey, can you stay here in Chicago?
Why rehab? You know, that turned into. I need your social security number. That turned into, man, I don't have a job for you. I don't have a role for you, but I just want you around. We'll figure it out. Ever since we met, we've been you know, you've been honest.
You've been I trust you so and so forth. But I don't have a role for you. OK, great. You know, but I wasn't one of those type of guys that. I didn't need a role.
I can create one. I had that confidence going in, and that's exactly what I did. I did not have a role for for for a while, and I was not making a lot of money.
The most money I ever got paid while working for him was forty eight thousand dollars a year. But I didn't focus on the finance of it all. It was the opportunity, the future. Yeah. And I and I didn't know what that opportunity was going to be, per se, or what the future.
Hell, I just never got complacent at the checkpoints and I never. Care to only lean on just him, although extremely appreciative for the opportunity. I wanted to make something of it because, as you know, like I think for all athletes and the people around them, these guys don't owe us anything.
And I think that when they give you an opportunity is up to you to appreciate it first and foremost and then to not abuse it. And so that was always my focus. It wasn't like we sat down and there was a plan and you're going to do this and this person going to do that. No, it was just like it was a evolution, not being complacent and always respecting pretty much him. So I never did anything for finance that made that was for my best interest. It was always what his best interest was.
And then as I evolved and, you know, I didn't represent him until my ninth, his ninth year in the league. Right. So it wasn't like this plan even and even doing that, that wasn't planned either.
What do you mean? How is that not planned? It wasn't planned.
I decided to leave a former agency because I didn't feel like they had a plan for me. Correct. And whether he was coming or not wasn't my focus. I was I always believed that I can I can do something. Not I didn't know it would be at this level.
I'll be lying if I told you that. Right. But I was so motivated and so pissed off at the same time that it didn't matter who was coming. I just felt like, you know, I was going to make something happen. And through my journey and him seeing me sacrifice time and missing trips and not being and really focusing and recruiting the Eric Bledsoe and recruiting the Tristan Thompson and recruiting the Corey Joseph.
He's seen that. So when I did decide to step out on my own, he knew I was serious. And so he supported that. It wasn't like he said, oh, well, you do this. And I said, oh, I'm going to do this only if you come. That wasn't the conversation, although that's what's fabricated by others. That was not that's that was not it. Well, I mean, it's obviously worked out for for all. It's worked out fantastic for for for all of us.
Actually, it overworked. You know, what do you mean by that? I wouldn't I never imagined being what what what clutch sports is and what is no chance. No, yeah. Not even like you represent. Now you're representing player over 600.
The future was your weapons. Jalen hurts. I mean, it hurts to be on V.P. In this year's draft, we had five first rounders in the NFL draft. We have an unbelievable NBA draft class, as well as, you know, guys that came from from from previous agencies that that allowed us to represent them as a company. You know, look, and we have over 200 plus staff members today.
And I'm on the board of UTA and a partner there. And just I just never imagined all those things. But when you when you start something and you're passionate about it, it's also not your focus.
I've never sat in the success of anything. I just was really just, OK, what's the next thing? The next thing, the next thing. And representing talent is one of those things that I'm extremely passionate about because you get to see people's you have an effect on people's lives. They evolve.
They have families. And when it's when it's genuine, those things, you get up and you look forward to going to work every day. And so it's been a blessing.
It really has. I always talk about, you know, people talk about the yak, the yards after the catch. And I like to talk about the yow, the yards after the opportunity. You know, it's up to you what you do with that opportunity.
And so for me, that's I've always respected and appreciated one LeBron for giving me an opportunity that I wouldn't have had. These these institutions, these these Hollywood agencies, they don't really give most people that look like me at that time, especially at that time. Opportunity. Right. You had to have some type of higher education, et cetera.
So where would my entry point would have actually been nowhere? Right. Today, that's changed.
And so to have that impact on the industry is worth more than money, in my opinion. Well, I'm I'm thrilled that you're here, especially since I also had no idea. Just to be fully honest, this shirt is Ralph Lauren. And so my jacket, you know, is that right? Is it purple every day? No, it's blue. It's blue.
It's blue. Yeah. OK. Yeah.
Yeah. Nice shirt. Thank you. Appreciate it.
I had no idea that I was walking into it that way. But let's take a break. And if you don't mind, we'll get down to what's going on. And yeah.
On the regular and a day to day. Obviously, that's Rich Paul of Clutch Sports, CEO and founder of Clutch Sports Group right here on The Rich Isaac Show. In the NFL, there's zero margin for error, as we all know. One single mistake can change the outcome of a game, a season, livelihoods.
My goodness. As the official sleep and wellness partner of the National Football League, sleep number knows all of that and makes it their mission to provide players with data and insights to optimize their sleep for the ultimate competitive edge. And thus you get a sleep number bed. You get the same exact thing.
I feel it all the time. My sleep number setting is 60. My wife's is 70. It's just 10 numbers apart. But it does make the world of difference because you can adjust your bed's firmness on your side differently than the other.
And after working out for recovery, it's game changing. That's just one of the things that makes a sleep number bed so awesome. It's why 95 percent of Rams players have a sleep number smart bed. Eighty percent of Kansas City Chiefs players have a sleep number smart bed. Eighty percent of NFL players have a sleep number smart bed.
You should too. Why choose a sleep number smart bed? So you can use your ideal comfort on either side. And now it's the Sleep Number Everything Smart Bed Sale. Every smart bed and base are on sale during our Memorial Day event. Up to 50 percent off, limited time. Exclusively at a sleep number store near you.
See store or sleepnumber.com for details. Back here on the Roku Sports Channel. Radio will join us in just a couple minutes time. Rich Paul still here.
We like talking about things that we talk about in the commercial break. TJ, did you wear shoes specifically for Rich Paul today? Did that happen? Well, you know, I'm calling you out about 75, 80. I keep in rotation. Well, he did because he would add on the new balances if he did that. OK. He did wear. I mean, I know why you wore those. Why? Why did you wear it? Why?
Why? It's nostalgic. It's nostalgic. Those are Zoom generations, which are, you know, probably the best of that of the last, I guess, where we at, 22 now? Mm hmm.
Twenty two of LeBron's signature shoe line. OK, so you did do this on purpose. I mean, yeah, sure.
Normally, does the shirt have any meaning? I mean, I'll just say it's, you know, if you know Jay-Z and they had a song about people in Paris and, you know. So, yeah, that may have been OK. Yeah, this whole thing was intentional. I just didn't mean it. It's OK. I didn't know me and Rich had that polo connection. But yeah, yeah, I did it.
OK. So you're wearing Ralph Lauren as well, the jacket? Well, you know, I literally I wear a polo jacket every single day on the show, believe it or not. I haven't even noticed that. Have you guys noticed that?
I think I think I knew that I wasn't it wasn't top of mind when we started. Look, it's subtle. You know, it's subtle. My name's Rich.
Your name's Rich. I mean, we have a lot in common. It's a lot of synergy here right now. We do. Yeah.
OK, very good. Yes. You're Michigan and I'm Ohio State. Do you know what today is? Do you know what today is? It's been two thousand days since Ohio State last beat Michigan in football.
Two thousand days. Oh, I thought you were saying today was a different day, but that's fine. No, it's OK. We won a national championship, so it don't matter. I understand that. I know. It's OK.
If you want, we can talk about the last national champion to have won the conference and not lose a game in the process. We can move on. It's up to you, Rich. Rich Paul is here. Well, that seems like it struck a real nerve, Rich. Rich, you have no idea.
Daily here. Oh, I know. I know. But I have a lot.
Maverick's been here, too. He's talking about the Buckeyes. I have a lot of Michigan family. Right. A lot. In your business, too, right? In my business.
Right. Just as friends. I'm surrounded by a ton of Wolverines.
And I'm surrounded by a ton of Buckeyes. OK, so it's fine. It is fine. We can respect and then on occasion disrespect. We only don't really get along on one day out the year. That's true. So.
That's true. Although, you know, I did try on for size being an Oregon fan. That didn't work out.
I tried being an Notre Dame fan. Well, because they were playing you. You understand?
Oh, you just wanted us to lose. OK. It's not the same way.
Seriously, it's not the same way. You weren't rooting for Pennax in Washington. You weren't. I was not. Oh, come on, Rich Paul.
I root for the conference. Come on. I did.
I mean, you know. OK. So would I say something different?
You said something very different. All right. No, I'll root for the conference.
Yeah, I was rooting for the conference. It's OK. I know you don't, but it's fine. Rich Paul here on The Rich Isaac Show, everybody.
OK, so first things first. I love Jalen Hurts. I love that guy.
You mentioned Yao. That's something I'm going to steal, if you don't mind. Sure.
Yards after the opportunity. Yes. That guy personifies Yao, right?
Yes, he does. Or opportunities he wasn't given as well. Yeah, I mean, it's hard to find a guy like Jalen Hurts who, when you think about it, his success is based upon him really having perspective. Because most guys who would be taken out of the game at that stage, it becomes a big thing. The people around him, it becomes a big thing.
He transfers, then he comes in and he gets, you know, not starting. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, look, the yards after the opportunity is so important. And when I talk about that, it's like, look at all the guys who've given me an opportunity to represent them, despite whatever my stature may be, I never take for granted when someone gives me an opportunity, even our rookies this year. Don't matter.
I've been in the game for so long. But still, they've given us an opportunity as a company to represent them and their families. And Jalen Hurts is, yeah, his pitcher should be next to the yow. Right.
The yow and then Jalen Hurts. You also employ a nuclear weapon in Nicole Lynn as well. Nicole's great. Yes. I mean, so, honestly, what she does for so many of your clients as well. Is Jalen your first Super Bowl quarterback, a winning client? Yeah. Oh, absolutely. So he planted a flag in a way for Clutch Sports Group being the first quarterback Super Bowl winning client of yours, right?
100%. Yeah. A Buckeye started the football group in Chase Young.
Okay. And then Jalen planted the flag in the Super Bowl winning MVP. We have a lot of Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State. Where are the Wolverines? You don't have any Wolverines? Oh, yeah.
You know what? I may have to move someone to Ann Arbor to make sure we get some... We need to be there. Oh, my gosh. We need to be there.
Yeah. Or maybe you can help. I'm happy to help. I'm happy to help. Okay, great.
Because there's many of them from Team 144 that are doing really well in the National Football League. It is. I'm happy to help you. It is. My Browns just drafted someone. That's right.
Mason Graham. Yeah. Okay.
So you're a Browns fan? Yes. Okay. Yes. All right. Yeah.
And Miles Garrett is a client. Yes. So he's there. Yes. So he's staying there. Okay. Now I see. I'm connecting some dots here.
Yeah. So let's talk about LeBron, if you don't mind. What is his future? What would you say his future is? I have no idea. None? Zero. When are you going to get down to those discussions, or you haven't, or you have, or what do you want to share? Right now, I'm really focused on this draft right now. Okay.
Normally, our process is you weigh everything and see how he's feeling and all those type of things. Physically? Mentally? Or what?
All of it? Well, we know he's dealing with the knee thing. Right. But yeah.
Same process has been for the last, I don't know how many years, but then we have some other free agents and so on and so forth, and then he'll come around to what he's thinking at some point. Right. And we'll kind of go over some things and go from there.
We're like Nick Nolte and Reggie Hammond. The boys are back in town, is that what you're saying? It's pretty easy. Yeah.
It's a great 48 hours reference right there. Wow. Yeah, that one. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I see.
Are you the Nick Nolte or is he the Nick Nolte in this equation here? It depends. Because we both can have, yeah. It depends. Okay.
It's interchangeable sometimes. All right. Yeah. But I actually, it's going to be a lot of movement this year, I imagine, and we have a few things in front of us that we really have to nail down. When I say we, I'm talking about as a company. Okay. We'll see. Is there anything you want to share on that front right now that you can share? No.
I mean, I think De'Aaron Fox being in San Antonio was obviously something that happened in the middle of the season and have to focus on that a little bit and Fred down in Houston. Houston. Yeah. But I mean, you're as successful as they come, Rich. You can, I imagine- Yeah.
I can walk a cute bubble, bro. You can do that. Yeah. Yeah. And obviously, everybody's kind of on pins and needles about how much longer LeBron wants to keep playing and obviously, would it be here in Los Angeles?
I think they've been on pins and needles for a while. I think, I don't know about that though. I wish I had the answer, Rich. I don't know. Okay.
So you don't have conversations with him about how much longer he wants to play? It's early. Okay.
It's early. No. I don't talk about that. I just, I go into each year, he's continuing to play. I never even talk about that. Okay.
No. So how much longer do you think he'll play? I always get asked this question, I think physically, he can play several more years. I don't think it's the physicality, it's the physical aspect of it. I think it's where you're at mentally. I think with all these guys, I think we put so much on the individual, but there's a lot of layers to success as an individual. And I think when you think about him per se, there's a lot of decisions that has to be made, going into a locker room, what the roster looks like, what the approach of each player is, he's always going to get everybody's best shot and so is the team he's on, they'll get everybody's best shot with the history of the team. And David Fox said something the other day about LeBron cherry picking, and they was talking about it this morning and I'm like, hmm, that's interesting to use the term cherry picking, if we're going to make a fruit basket here, maybe I'll sing you one after I leave for having me on the show. Thank you, Rich. But the careers of the LeBron and Michael Jordan, it's not apples and apples for a number of reasons, but the cherry picking terminology of it all, coming from someone who literally had John Thompson, Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski supporting his business, putting superstar athletes in the lap, in his lap, I think he was part of the cherry clan.
My dad used to sell that candy back in the day. I just thought that was very unfair and a little beneath David Falk for a number of reasons. And so we can't have revisionist history and we all want to just determine who's the gold and who's the best and so on and so forth. But I just thought that was a little beneath David to say that, and I'll table that there. Well, because we were going to bring that up. And for those who might not know what Rich is referring to is a sports business journal quote from the longtime agent of Jordan saying, I really liked LeBron, but I think if Jordan had cherry picked what teams he wanted to be on and two other superstars, he would have won 15 championships.
And again, when you look at that, right, again, the cherry pick, I've discussed that. The two other superstars, Michael never had to leave. Michael's never been the underdog in any finals, not one time. Michael never had a 24 hour, 365 news cycle. He never had shows built strictly to criticize him. People made millions of dollars criticizing LeBron.
That was their entire job. And when you talk about the difficulty of it all, Michael played for Dean Smith, Michael played for Phil Jackson, and Michael had Jerry Krause. I'm the biggest Michael Jordan fan ever. I love Michael Jordan. And I don't think Michael Jordan would have used the term cherry pick, so I'm not up here to discredit Michael Jordan. I think Michael Jordan transcended our game to a level that we all benefited from, right? And I'm more so focused on less about who's the GOAT and why I can't be at a dinner with those two guys having a great conversation or why I can't put a little bit of money that I've earned into a fund that those two guys have formulated so we can be a part of the deal flow from the Blackstones and the Apollos and the Andreessen Horowitz and things of that nature. And I think that those type of comments is also the reason why people that look like me in my community always think there can only be one king. And it's forever embedded us as the minority in a lot of places and why it's so uncommon to see a community of successful black men. So I thought that was very, again, beneath David Falk with all the success he's had and all the cherry picking that he's been able to do amongst the three highest level universities there could ever be as it pertains to aligning with the game of basketball.
It doesn't get any bigger than Georgetown, North Carolina, and Duke. So he actually has a bag of cherries, you know? So I'll leave that there though.
Rich Paul here on the Rich Eisen Show. If I may also just follow up on what I think is kind of a subtext of what he's saying as well that also dovetails into what a lot of media members have said about LeBron's business strategy as a player in this league is that he runs the team that he's on. That he makes the decisions about roster and he makes decisions about coaches and I would love to put that in front of you and how you would respond to that. And that's false. I think that, and I can say that because I'm there, you know, and when you think about that and that narrative, people don't think about the impact that that has off the court, right?
It hurts friendships, guys that play on teams because they feel like, hey, I may have been traded and it's because you wanted me out of here, right? And I know that is not to be true. There's something to be said when someone come to you and say, hey, what do you think about this guy? You may say, ah, or you, or you may not even want to comment at all.
And they come back and they come back and they come back and you say, you know what that's you want to do? Go ahead. That's not you making a decision. That's you agreeing with something because, okay, cool. That's what you guys feel is the best thing to do.
Do it. I don't own the team. I'm not in the front office. You know, it clearly, he don't run the team because there's things that transpired that he didn't even know about. So like the Luca trade is what you're saying. So how was he, how was he, how was he running the team? The Westbrook trade, you know, he didn't make that trade contrary to what people try to put out there.
He didn't, he did not make that trade. And I know that for a fact. So I think those things are, there's one thing that have power and influence and there are guys who earn the right for some decisions to be, you know, ran past you or, or so for some teams to, to say, Hey, what do you think about this? Or yeah, that's earned.
We, you know, we've all been in those rooms and, and, and that's earned, but there's a fine line because you can also put yourself in a situation where, for example, Shea Gillies Alexander is now on the Oklahoma City Thunder. Maybe he should be there. Maybe he shouldn't.
He's MVP today. So obviously he should. Are you referring to when he was a clipper and how when Kawhi got there? Whoever made the decision, I don't know who it was or whatnot.
You have to relive that now, right? Because if you put it on the player, if you put it on the front office, you know, there's, there's so many decisions to be made. And again, we can't confuse someone asking a player for an opinion. And that being the decision that's being made, those are two separate things. And I deal with all of them, players and front offices.
Those are two separate things. You make decisions at a front office and you live with the results. That's why you get paid the money that you get paid to be in that position. As a player, I don't think players are in the position to make a specific decision all the time due to the fact that they're not doing the diligence that the front offices are doing to even be, to make that decision.
Because it's one thing to date somebody, it's another thing to live with them. I love your sayings, man. Oh yes, it is. Rich Paul, founder and CEO of Clutch Sports Group here in the few minutes we have left.
The I mean, my gosh, there's so much that you're up to. What is Adopt that Publicis recently acquired? What is, what is that? Oh, so Adopt was a company that it's a creative marketing agency. Doesn't have anything to do with Clutch Sports Group. It's totally separate, but it was a company that two, well, a couple of friends of mine, but specifically two guys that formerly executives at Nike, David Creech and Joshua Moore, we created back in 2021 and we had success and we sat in a space in which we really aligned with brands, all their creative messaging, helping brands understand not just the athlete, but you know, consumers better understand those brands, the brands better understand the consumer and the athlete.
But in addition to that, working with Netflix and Epic Games and Fortnite and Lululemon and Athleta and North Face and all these, you know, it really just blew up. And it's really, those two guys are, are, are geniuses. They really are. And anyone that's had an opportunity to work with David Creech or Joshua Moore, they would say the same. I bet on them as, as people.
And obviously they would say, no, Rich, you had some relationships and so on and so forth. But, but really it was them. And you know, we, we hit at the right time and, and anytime a company like Publicis comes in and identifies your work as something that can be of value to them, they, they evaluate the company and made us an offer and we decided to, to allow them to acquire the company. And so something that I'm extremely proud of, you know, things happen just by, by chance, but this was by chance and by, by expertise and, and, and capability. And I was happy to be a part of that team and helped lead the way from a business perspective.
But those guys were the ones every day in the trenches doing the work that, that, that got us here. And so we had a team effort with a few other people as well, and it's been great. So I was really excited about that. There was a pitcher going around that with, with Farrah Leff and Matt Pritzker and, and another gentleman by the name of Alex Cohen, who we were all worked together on that. And it was, it was, it's one of the coolest things I've, I've, I've been a part of and been able to, to do so. Well, congrats on that.
Thank you. And you got, and you know, obviously Clutch Sports has gone international for some time now. Representatives of Outstanding Footballers, Roof. Yeah, yeah.
These guys are incredible. Football, football representation agency out of, out of Munich, but we also have offices in, in London and, and Majorca, but was able to, to, to lead that with, with some of my colleagues at UTA and, and, and we were able to acquire, acquire Roof. And it was something that took us two years to do is really passionate about it, wanting to get into space.
But, you know, anytime you're buying a company 3000 plus miles away, you know, you have to bet on the people. And when you talk about the Roof and, and how they represent clients in the space and what, what they, the culture that they had as a company and spending time with them over two years, you just saw that we kind of share some of the same, what I would say, a thought process as it, as it pertained to representing our clients and what our, our culture was like, not focused just on the finance of it all, but really wanted to do right by, by each, each, each client. And we just hit it off. They were led by a guy named Bjorn and he and I really hit it off. It was funny. We were driving, it was first, my first time he was, he was here and we were talking and we were in the car and, and actually I was talking, he was just in my car and I was on the phone for like the first hour and he was just in the car and he was like, when I hung up, he was like, hmm, he was like, remind me a lot of myself, you know, he was just listening to the call.
I was actually on the phone with the team and he and I hit it off right away and then I was able to meet the rest of the team. And then were you wearing a Warren Moon jersey? I was, no, those days, no, actually I would love to, I can't, the one I have in my office is framed, but I did say I was going to get me another Warren Moon jersey soon, but I wear, I wear this pretty much every, this is, I actually wear this every day. This is, I guess your uniform?
Like literally the same pants and sweatshirt every day. Yeah. So I've been on that for about six months now. I'm saving a lot of money. It's working for you. Yeah. It's working.
I can confirm. Is that what Steve Jobs did? Hey, listen, work for Steve Jobs works for Rich Paul. Really thank you for coming on here, Rich Paul. No, thank you. I really appreciate it.
Appreciate it. Yeah. We got to get dinner sometime. I would love to do that. Let's do this on the regular. We're in the same city. We are in the same city. We have the same first name.
We both like Ralph Lauren. And then, you know, and I just add you to the list as someone who's going to hear from me in late November. That'll be, that's, that'll be great. You know what?
That's a growing list. We can bet dinner right now. Hey now. That. Okay. That what? You guys beat the Wolverines in, in the big house this year.
In the big houses. Sure. Done. Done. Absolutely. Your choice, by the way.
Okay, great. I'd rather be my choice than yours. You know, if we're talking about bottom lines of each other's companies, technically, technically you represent me. So yes, I do represent me. So let's, so it's a win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win. I'd rather be five.
I like our chances this year. I'm telling you. I really do. I don't blame you. I don't blame you. Uh, the young man though, who met LeBron recently, Bryce, Bryce, we told LeBron, I'm about to make your life a little miserable.
Apparently I'm paraphrasing here. Um, he was very excited. Meet LeBron. He sat in that chair. Do you know how he met him? Through you? I just asked, do you know how he met him?
I'm not saying, I'm not saying harden kind of like brought him over. Well, rich Paul, everybody here on the rich eyes, fantastic, fantastic. You met Prince. Correct?
Yeah. What's the story behind that? You know, I can't remember how we met initially, but after our first encounter, he made sure that I was at every house party that he had in Los Angeles. And if he knew that I was in town, like in New York, he made sure that I was at every show he performed at Madison square garden.
I'll never forget. We were at Madison square garden security came to me, to my seat at the end of the show or towards the end of the show and said, Prince wants you to come on stage. I was like, okay, he wants you to come on stage now. All right. So I'll go on stage.
Me will be Goldberg, Cornell West, have a smiley bunch of other people on stage. And we went to this after our spot after the concert, a place called village underground in the village. Oh, it's famous.
Yeah. And so, you know, cause Prince likes to jam afterwards. Well, Prince just went to go listen to the musicians and so it's Prince, his assistant myself, and I see Prince lean over to his assistant and then all of a sudden the assistant leans over to me and says, I don't know why I do this voice, but it's like Prince wants you to come back and have pasta and pizza. I was like, Oh, okay. And then Prince got up and left and she got up and left.
I don't know why her voice is so deep because it was a woman and she was summoned by royalty. And there was, you know, an array of people in the living room and I went back to find Prince and he was back there holding court with Tavis smiley and Cornell West. And he looked up and his like smile and gave me the peace sign and I went back in and we had pasta and pizza at four o'clock in the morning. How did Prince like his pizza?
This is very important. The toppings first off is a window into one soul. There was no meat on the pizza and I didn't see Prince eat any pizza. We would go to his house, man, for the house parties and it'd be Stevie Wonder playing the piano.
Malcolm Jamal Warner on bass, you know, Rochelle Pharrell singing lead, you know, Harry Connick Jr. playing bongos. No, no, no. That was Matthew McConaughey. Yeah. Matthew McConaughey.
I'm sorry. I get him confused sometimes. It was just amazing, man. And then it was like five o'clock in the morning, his chef is serving you breakfast. You're like, well, how am I at Prince's house at five o'clock in the morning, man? It was truly an amazing relationship that not only myself, but other people had with him. I'm just glad that it was pizza and pasta.
It wasn't like a game of telephone. Like Prince asked you to do something and came back pizza and pasta for his assistant. And then Prince wants you to come back to the hotel and have pasta and pizza.
That's how it came to me. Love when Mr. Anderson comes on this program. He's been on multiple times solo, multiple times with Cedric the Entertainer, talking about their barbecue, brick and mortar and all that good stuff.
That was a lot of fun with Rich Paul. You know what I should do? I should wear the same thing every day for six months.
What would that be? I once did that for a whole week, years ago. The only one who noticed was Jay Felley on a Thursday. And he was like, have you been wearing the same thing every day this week? I go, yeah. I was seeing if anyone would notice and no one did. You know what, Jay? You see people.
Let's sneak in a win loss game. Alfred in Kentucky, you only have about a minute and 45 seconds. Alfred, go fast. You there, Alfred?
Hey, is he Rich? Yes. Hey. You there, Alfred? Yes, sir. I can see you on TV. I watch you every day, big dog. Let's do it, big dog.
You want to do the win loss game for what? Hey, this is even hard. DJ real fast. That's my big dog right there. What up, G? DC for L. DC for L, big dog. What up, man? What's up, DJ?
Dallas Cowboys, we're live. Sure to know that's right. Well, here's A, a forward life, Alfred, don't get me twisted. We unfortunately only have about a minute and 10 seconds left. Roll through them, Alfred.
We're very fast, big dog. Okay, here we go. Go for it, Alfred. I heard you talk to me, Rich and Chris.
I don't like Chris. We'll go ahead. Hold on a second. Take the music down. I ain't got it.
Take the music down. Alfred, we're going to have to do this win loss thing tomorrow. You're two, you're the greatest. Please call back tomorrow. You'll be the first call we take. I've been called five times.
It's the only time I got two. I promise you, we're going to get it for you tomorrow. I promise you. We'll be back in the morning, Alfred, because we need this energy.
Okay. What time? What time in the morning? Just before the show. I will get you on first up.
I promise you. But I'm in Kentucky, so come on, noon or nine? Eleven. Eastern. No, noon Eastern. Call us at noon Eastern tomorrow. Oh, I'll call you at 11.49. Okay. All right. We'll let your Adam get you.
Alfred in Kentucky. I love you guys. Right back at you. Thanks again. Don't forget. That was so much fun. By the way, I'm sitting at the Rich Eyes and Show desk furnished by Grange with supplies and solutions for every industry. ClickRanger has the right product for you.
Call clickranger.com or just stop by. We've got to get full. I don't know what I did to Alfred, but... Well, I mean, sometimes it takes- You know what you did to Alfred? Just being you, I think.
You're probably right. I know people like Alfred. Big dog. Big dog.
Former MLB All-Star, Sean Casey, AKA the Mayor, keeps hitting it out of the park. Take my 30 years of experience. Like the wisdom and knowledge I've learned from the failures when I got sent down my rookie year.
All the injuries I had to overcome. Your mind is the most important tool you have in life. Be relentless.
Keep charging. It matters how you talk to yourself, how you look at the world. That matters. We talk about that.
I don't know. I'm fired up. Baseball's back and it's going to be incredible. I love it. The Mayor's Office with Sean Casey from Believe. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.
