Rich Paul addresses Bronny James to Lakers, NBA vs. G League talent & more! | The Pat McAfee Show

Rich Paul addresses Bronny James to Lakers, NBA vs. G League talent & more! | The Pat McAfee Show

ladies and gentlemen the man who represents the entire National Basketball Association author stud entrepreneur I assume he’s already a bazillionaire rich Paul yeah how are you D how are you man hey I think you got to move to your left yeah was that your left or right my left yeah see I never know I’m because there’s some times where people are off and I don’t know with the mirror effect and the camera if I’m right that was your left we remember that for future times rich thank you for making time man I assume this is a very busy time for you or no uh it is I mean it has been I just came back from Summer League so that was that but it’s always busy all year round is busy so okay so rich at Summer League you’re just telling everybody what they’re going to do how they’re going to do it that’s how we view like your uh persuasion we’ll say of the business side of the NBA between the players and the league and I we would like to say this before you know you give your answer like every other league looks at the NBA in the way the players and the owners kind of operate and commissioner and you’re like man that’s how we would like this to go it’s like consider players and you’re one of the massive pieces behind that entire process so mad respect for getting to this point especially as a guy that was selling jerseys out of the back of your car at one point to now doing this massive respect and incredible stuff but you do just walk around and tell people what the hell they’re going to do is that the rich Paul life is that how that goes no no no no no no so summer league you know again I try to help the young guys have the proper perspective you know as a former professional athlete you know summer league for me to my guys is about building great habits you know there’s nobody in summer league that’s going to necessarily translate you know directly uh to the to the production level to um their respective teams you know you got guys that’s going to average you know 20 points a game in summer league and probably not even average two minutes in the game in the NBA and then you got some prospects coming in that can show hey you know you made the right draft choice you know I’m trending towards the right direction so look all those young guys out there are trying to find a home some you know have been there multiple times some is their first time and so for me Summer League for these guys just about building habits you know how do you approach summer league I ask the guys what’s your plan going in if they say to me you know I’m about to go I’m going to kill it I said that’s that’s the wrong approach because you have to be able a star in a role so if you’re going to kill it then that means you’re going you’re playing me basketball that’s not going to help you as a role player in in the NBA and 95% of the guys in the league are role players okay so having that conversation that’s been incredibly difficult let me in the NFL world and I was a punter so like special teams is where guys like make the team like these young guys but their entire lives they were the stars of their teams so like in Little League in everything you’re you’re the you win the game for us we’re giving you the ball we need you to play defense offense we need you to play quarterback right now then they go to college they’re the best on their entire campus they are the best players then they get to the NFL and it’s like hey we need you to protect for a punt here yeah we you have to do this three they’re learning a brand new technique pretty much and they have to get humbled like very quick in a matter of like three weeks there’s a process where you got to get like just like humbled quickly your ass is going to be on the bench I assume you got to do how quickly are those conversations taking place with these people is very quickly very quickly okay and do they know they’re gonna be is g-league like the Special Teams is that kind of like what special teams is uh I guess but it depends you can be in the g-league and just to be in the G League or you can be in the g-league with a plan around you you know you want to be in the G league with a plan around you but I have these conversations prior to the draft I have these conversations with with guys that I know may be lottery pcks or may be first round picks that doesn’t mean anything you still have to get to the league and you have to Define what your role is and star in that role and be willing to you know do things that you might not have been asked to do coming up you know and that’s the tough part about going into the NBA all these guys are highly ranked McDonald’s all-americans Etc it was the best players on their team but now you get to that top the tip of that pyramid in the NBA and you become one of 450 and you’re probably at the lower half of the 450 right and so how do you maintain value how how do you maintain uh getting an opportunity and when you talk about you know a talent people think oh well he averaged 20 points 25 points why shouldn’t he be playing it’s not just the level of production you know it’s habits it’s character it’s you know how you treat others there’s so many different components that that boxes you have to check in order to maintain an opportunity in the NBA and so I try to put that in front of everybody early some people choose to listen some people don’t but for those that do then they get to take the next step and then if you get the opportunity consistently then you can start to do other things that your talent allows you to do to develop into a budding star prime example Tyrese Maxi remember during those season Tyrese Maxi first of all they wanted to send him down to the G League they wasn’t they wasn’t gonna even draft him first of all then they was gonna send him down to the G League then they decided to play him a little bit it was Co there was a game that was that was Guy set out he scored 44 40 points against Denver I think uh in the game we talked after that game I said Tyrese great game but you won’t play the next 10 games he was so confused I’m like yeah those 40 points mean nothing you know in terms of where you’re at in the pecking order now today he’s a max player but he’s never allowed himself to make it about him when he didn’t play you know he came to practice every day was early was a great energy in the locker room Etc when he got his opportunity to play he took advantage of and that’s called being a pro okay so is that your big weapon is that why you represent everybody is because they see obviously the success you’ve had guys coming up and they’re like they’ll they’ll take your criticism they’ll take your criticism almost because that’s what that is isn’t it it’s kind of coaching guidance everything like that yeah for the guys I actually represent but everybody’s not open minded to that everybody doesn’t have that around them you know some people like to be told what they want to hear um and that’s just I don’t represent those guys so it’s fine but for those that I do represent it’s going to be a very matter of fact conversation no matter what and we’re going to hold each other accountable we’re gonna respect each other but at the end of the day I have to shoot it straight because the league shoots it straight and life shoots it straight so that’s that’s how I was raised so that’s awesome by the way need a lot more of that in society as a whole which would be sweet which author I had your book up here oh okay I know you’re a big supporter I’m re I’m re-releasing it the paperback so uh I you know is able to get to some some other areas that that couldn’t receive it but um how many pages how many pages how many pages is paperback probably the same it’s not I mean is that enough to put on his side know his paperbacks are all flimsy I I don’t know if I’ll be able to have that thing stand right here you know I don’t know if I’ll be able to have that no but you got the hard copy of the book yeah I don’t know where wait wait wait whoa whoa there it is Boom found it boom boom lucky me no there’s a story of a guy like hey like I think I told you this last time we talked like you’re you’re one of the most successful like just Hustlers of all time and then you start listening and talking about why it kind of comes together it’s like a great message and and I think like what you stand for I don’t know a lot of people fully comprehend or maybe don’t really want to listen to but now you know most people think like oh he’s friends friends with LeBron successful yeah but that’s you know ignorance is bliss you know that goes yeah you got to keep it going I mean people talk a lot of about me you have an ability to block it out for me I I listen to it I almost want to every sing time be like but nonetheless uh the big conversation about you saying you shooting it straight and you and your clients being able to talk you know draft night with bronnie and we have to talk about bronny obviously have to so especially now with everything that’s taking place this was this was planned prior you guys were off so it’s fine Bingo we were supposed to I think like day after dra was like the first day we were back we almost you’re almost on plane going to do it uh right after round two I think like the day after round two but we weren’t able to connect to the plane so you need figure out your Wi-Fi up there come on okay you’re we sold enough books we’ve done enough okay we we should have a good Wi-Fi up there but you’re we were supposed to come on here in chat about this the story of draft KN was you were basically calling teams and saying he’s going to go to Australia now then we heard like other people say like hey this is a thing that does happen like in the NBA like hey this is uh a much better what how much of that is true and what are those conversations whenever you’re talking to teams on those types of EV no I think the matter of fact thing is you know you have relationship with people and and you make the calls they respect each other they understand why and they understand you know what what was at stake in this case and so um you know there were several teams that had interest in bronnie but you do have the calls and you talk about it and they understand it so that’s just relationships throughout the league you know the Australia thing um that’s that that is what it is but in terms of just having real conversations with people that actually had real interests and um you know asking them or or having a conversation of of of why you felt a certain way and you know it goes both ways sometimes it go my way sometimes it go their way so we help each other in that regard yeah you represent more than just one person so there’s a lot of you know a lot of conversations potentially taking place the Australia thing is what it is hysterical line out you I just want let you know that is a that is a funny I mean it’s he doesn’t mind it’s beautiful place we got a house already picked out nice not a problem at all that is hysterical to think about that conversation taking place now where we’re at here couple weeks removed for bronny and obviously the g-league struggles are being tatted about by the summer league struggles are being chatted about by everybody and the g- league conversation taking place in a fully guaranteed contract did you you obviously had conversations with people at the Lakers who we know you’re very close with and you felt as if they understood that this was going to be like a commitment and like what bronnie is going to become is going to be much different than what he is right now is that the thoughts or how do you feel about how it’s all going with bnie look I think all these guys are in development R is no different you know he he doesn’t get to be excluded from from having to develop obviously I know he wants to make shots and he will make shots but again it’s just about building great habits you know I think the opportunity for Brian to play at the league level would be um on the defensive end and that’s something that he’s really good at now the other components of the game he has to get better at and he will look Bran’s a passion player he’s playing a game of basketball because it’s his passion uh and so I don’t look at summer league as like the end all Beall whether he was averaging 30 or whe whether he was averaging three I think you go into summer league you come out of Summer League with the understanding okay going into training camp this is what’s going to get me some type of um I would say um opportunity yeah a opportunity but you know hey where am I kind of shining at and where do they see me kind of having an opportunity it’s going to be you know on the defensive end um and that’s where he’s that’s where he’s probably the the the the most developed today the offensive stuff will come bronnie has a great IQ he has a great feel for the game uh the Shadow Fall we understand that that’s just about reps and he’s willing and committed to do that and it’s all about being committed you have perspective and you’re committed good things happen and you can’t really worry about you know I saw some of the stuff that came out about jayen Brown and things like that like you can’t you know you can’t take what everybody’s opinion and and try to turn it against him or think that he’s a bad person or the young lady that was accompanying him as a bad person no they have opinions they can say what they want to say at least he is someone who’s actually in the league and so there’s a lot of experts with no expertise he’s actually an expert with expertise and so if he has that opinion he can have that opinion but I know jayen and he doesn’t I know he doesn’t mean that with any malice you know he’s just having a conversation and it’s just the world we live in today like like who why would he think somebody would be bitt on him saying anything so but but Bri’s going to keep his head down and continue to work uh use things as fuel but be continue to be passionate about the game of basketball because that’s that’s a true thing and it goes for all the guys in some right we see guys get drafted we see guys you know get contracts then don’t ever get another one you know the NBA is a roller coaster and you just got to continue to put the work in every day and get better and I’m sure Bry will do that he’ll be committed to do that and then let’s look back on the end of the movie they don’t run the credits at the beginning they running at the end and so we’ll continue to to work towards that path and so I’m excited for what’s coming with bronnie and yes it’s far as guaranteed contracts that was a thing you know I didn’t want him to be on the two-way or things like that no offense to two-way contracts um it’s just there are different scenarios in this case scenario um it was just something that we were able to work out and get done and so that’s a good thing the Lakers have seen LeBron James and that answer was phenomenal just want to let you know that that was so cool just to hear you go into explaining and answering everything that has basically been said about bronnie on the internet over the last couple weeks in one answer right there just jayen put out another tweet too yeah and he said Hey listen yeah got respect I know I know Jay Jay’s a good guy so we’re not g to spit to much time on that yeah they said that you uh sent 10 uh 10 Escalades to his house tweet we can said you know we we did the whole entire thing but you answering all those questions for Bonnie is incredibly cool there I think as a guy that is representing him and looking out for his future business standpoint and you know LeBron has told us that bronnie locks out all that stuff and all the noise and everything but I think for us getting to see footage of how LeBron James is acting at Team USA practice I would assume that the Lakers have faith that Brony is going to maybe be able to figure out how to be an NBA player yeah so you and them having that conversation it’s like I assume that’s an easier decision to be made and because he is LeBron James son yeah there is going to be some exemptions I think in some potential thoughts that yeah we’ve seen his guy’s dad do his thing here we assume he’ll be able to work is that a part of the conversation do you think that that is kind of how and why those things come together because why is everybody talking about how if this wasn’t LeBron’s kid this wouldn’t be happening no we’re talking about like this is you know what I mean like no that isn’t that just kind of expected in this entire thing and why ises everybody think that’s a big deal yeah but you know I kind of you know I I agree and I kind of disagree with that right in terms of yeah he has to Janss look this is a Jeanie decided that she’s making this call and she’s been able to see bronnie in all aspects not only from a basketball perspective but also from a character character perspective and he has every everything that aligns with the Laker brand and so you have to make that type of call you know that’s awesome and so at the end at the end of the day we’re not gonna spend too much time on that bronnie has to work his way and he will okay that’s awesome to hear debut has a question for you about you oh okay hold on we got business going right now we got business going right now Sig we good we good what deal just hey so we need to scour the internet right now who is potentially in the middle of a conversation what if this is happening right now this would be dope Mark to the Warriors yeah we got any moves any trades taking place Team USA are we feeling better than ever we I think look I think for you know the thing about Team USA we gotta we gotta give them we gotta number one not put so much into oh they didn’t blow this team out the world is caught up it’s not 1992 theau up look at our league we got to beat Australia by more than six we got to we got to do that hey it just Hey listen a win is a win whether it’s by one or 1,00 one win is a win one is it’s not going to be easy the team’s going to compete there’s a lot of good players around the world and so um you know you have to jail together you got a lot of guys that have never played together you got lineups you’re trying to see what work what don’t work you know what gets us off to a great start what’s our closing lineups guys who are who are known to be able to come down and take a heat check or whatnot on their respective teams they can’t do that on Team USA so it’s a very it’s a very you know it’s a different different thing so just just hey we’re still learning right now huh we’re still figuring out how to play ball together together that’s what’s kind of yeah figure out how to play basketball but trying to figure out how to play together you know there’s a chemistry that comes with the game of basketball there’s a selflessness that comes with the game of basketball you know there’s matchups there’s there’s a lot of things and so it’ll get there it’ll get there don’t you know these are these are the greatest players in the world so I think they’ll figure it out okay good news and we’re only saying and asking these questions uh for 1,000% selfish reasons yep we want to be so obnoxious during the olymp I mean that is our entire game plan and uh we we can’t thank you enough for the uh information that we’re going to be just fine we are going to be just fine they’re going to be figuring out some people we can’t just be pulling up from a logo all the time okay how about it you know because another guy on our team pulls up from a logo as well exactly on his team and there’s another guy who nobody on his team is pulling up from a logo because he’s on the the court so we need to figure out how to figure this out and they’re going to do that we’re going to be able to be obnoxious I love it let’s go to New York now instead of Team USA dbut has a question for you in your world I think yeah Rich was some rumors about LeBron possibly taking the pay cut for another starter come to LA and then we saw Jaylen Brunson sign his deal and I know you know in NFL the union we hate when players take team Friendly Deals home team discounts whatever it may be big time player like this in his prime takes a deal like that how does I guess your like the agents feel about this or is it are you guys kind of completely different silos when it comes to each individual player in their situations yeah I mean look you know obviously it’s not ideal but Jaden’s a smart kid and and and a smart young smart young man he’s and and you know obviously his dad is there and I’m sure they had conversations conversations that made sense and so uh I try to stay in my Lane as it pertains to my business but ultimately you know throughout my course of my career as representation you know you try to advise as best you can and and again you know there’s different components I don’t know what all components lie within his situation to make him make that decision but obviously I do know him and I know dad and he’s a pretty smart kid so um again have to wait and let the movie play out and see where it [Music] [Applause] [Music] goes is

Klutch Sports Group founder Rich Paul joins The Pat McAfee Show to differentiate the talent level and standards expected from players in the NBA and the G League before discussing NBA Draft night, where Bronny James was ultimately selected by the Los Angeles Lakers.

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