The ongoing NBA tournament is rapidly approaching its final stage.
While basketball enthusiasts have been waiting to see which franchise will secure the championship ring, there has initially also been a certain amount of waiting to see which player will be declared the ‘MVP’ of the 2023–24 season.
To no one’s surprise, Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic ended up taking the prestigious title home for the third time in 4 years.
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James was far from being considered for the same this season.
However, a recent revelation highlights that there was an attempt to prop the player’s position up.
A few hours ago, ‘Dreamerspro’ host Charles Chima Tabansi released a new episode of his frequently watched show.
He discussed Fox Sports Analyst Ric Bucher’s recent appearance on Skip Bayless’s ‘Undisputed’ show.
Bucher highlighted an email from the sports agency group ‘Klutch Sports’, which asked him to vote for “LeBron James for MVP” during the official ballot process.
This action was something that the ‘Dreamerspro’ host was not comfortable with being a normal part of the basketball world.
“Is this what really goes on in sports media?” said Tabansi. “Why y’all sending emails to ask people to solicit votes for you for MVP.
My argument is, why can’t it just be based on merit? You do the work, we observe the work, we scrutinize the work and say, ‘Hey listen, you deserve it’ or ‘He deserves it’ or ‘The other guy deserves it’”.
Long-time NBA fans may be aware that, for the last 44 years, the MVP of a particular season has been chosen by a select panel of sportscasters and journalists from respected media outlets.
In the long-running history of this tradition, however, there has seldom been reported such an instance of sports agencies requesting the media members to cast a vote for a particular individual.
With the exception of Ric Bucher’s statement, no other reports suggest that Rich Paul’s agency carried out such an action.
Even if it did, however, the strategy did not prove effective since LeBron James did not even appear in the top 10 MVP Contenders list.
Nikola Jokic held the lead with 926 points, while Kevin Durant was dead last with just 1 point to his name.
How long has LeBron James been associated with Rich Paul and Klutch Sports?
While Charles Tabansi may have found the above action unquestionable, it may have been done just to promote LeBron James’ position for another MVP title. After all, Klutch Sports founder Rich Paul has been a part of the player’s life since the beginning.
A young LeBron James first hired Paul as his agent after he began establishing his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Back then, the latter worked at the Creative Artists Agency (CAA). By the time 2012 occurred, both the player and the agent had switched gears. LeBron began playing for the Miami Heat, while Paul left CAA and found Klutch Sports Group.
Over the years, the agency has represented various high-profile clients like Trae Young, Draymond Green, Anthony Davis, Zach LaVine, etc.
While most of them have come and gone, LeBron has continued his association with Paul throughout his 21-year career.
The duo’s long-term partnership has highly benefited both of them. Rich Paul can boast about having one of the best NBA players of the modern generation as his client.
Someone who has not only won 4 MVP titles but also 4 championships and 4 Final MVP titles, has set numerous records.
Moreover, he is currently the league’s all-time leading scorer with 40,000+ overall points. At the same time, Paul has worked hard to get LeBron James one of the highest NBA contracts, along with numerous endorsements and partnership deals.
As a result, the Lakers star is now the first and only Active NBA player to have reached billionaire status.
With no plans yet announced about his retirement, LeBron may have a shot at the MVP title next season. In that case, sportscasters may end up paying a second thought to any of Rich Paul’s alleged future emails.
