New legal procedure to manage for Rich Paul. After Nerlens Noel, who accused him of having poorly advised him, or Nick Nurse's former agent, who criticized the coach for having joined Klutch Sports by unilaterally terminating his contract, it is Mark Termini who filed a complaint against LeBron James' friend.
The lawyer, based in Cleveland, became known in 1992, when he advised Jim Jackson, just drafted by the Mavericks, in a famous standoff that lasted 54 games.
The fullback finally won the game and Mark Termini had acquired a solid reputation as a tough negotiator, which he later consolidated with Ron Harper and Pau Gasol. This is why Rich Paul, still new to the profession, hired him in 2013 to manage the technical aspect of the negotiations.
25% of Klutch Sports gross fees
Between 2013 and 2020, it was Mark Termini who managed the negotiations for the contracts of LeBron James, Draymond Green, Ben Simmons, Tristan Thompson and even JR Smith. It was he who managed the return of the “King” to Ohio in 2014, developing the 1+1 strategy, the best scorer in the history of the league negotiating one-year contracts each summer, with an optional year, which allowed him to keep pressure on the leaders of the Cavaliers, but also to maximize his earnings to take advantage of increases in the salary cap.
In exchange for this technical management, Rich Paul had agreed to pay 25% of the gross fees of Klutch Sports and Rich Paul on NBA contracts and marketing agreements to Mark Termini.
Except that today, the latter assures that money is missing from the final bill. In a complaint, he estimates that Klutch Sports owes him $4.9 million because he was the first negotiator of more than $1.4 billion in contracts. But as Rich Paul's agency grew, he tried to reduce his percentage and hire third parties to do the work for which he felt he had exclusive rights.
“This legal action is imprecise, misguided and will be dealt with in the appropriate framework”we respond from Klutch Sports, which perhaps hopes to resolve the dispute via mediation, and not in court.
