黑料社

NBA Agent to the Stars, Leon Rose, Shares Strategies of Success with 黑料社 All Students On March 7, members of 黑料社 All鈥檚 Sports Management Club had the opportunity to ask their biggest questions to someone who knows a little about the business.

NBA agent Leon Rose spoke about his career at a Sports Management Club event on the Wilf Campus.

That would be Leon Rose, attorney and sports agent, who represents National Basketball Association stars including Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul, and formerly LeBron James. During the informal discussion on YU鈥檚 Wilf Campus, which was attended by dozens of students and community members, as well as visiting participants of the , Rose recalled his journey from aspiring basketball coach to legal professional and, eventually, adviser to some of the biggest names in the game. 鈥淭he reason I got into this is the same reason I wanted to be a basketball coach鈥擨 wanted to help people in a different way,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n my field, you may not be a coach on the court, but hopefully you鈥檙e a coach regarding life and business.鈥� Rose played and coached basketball at both the high school and college level and initially dreamed of becoming an NBA coach. But he decided to pursue a legal education at Temple University as well, following the advice of his father鈥攁lso an attorney鈥攚ho felt it provided more financial security. After graduation, Rose continued to coach teams while working for the Camden County Prosecutor鈥檚 Office.  As an attorney with the law practice of Sherman Silverstein Kohl Rose and Podolsky in 1994, Rose met Bill Simmons, the uncle鈥攁nd agent鈥攐f NBA player Lionel Simmons, who needed a lawyer to help him negotiate a contract. 鈥淭hat was the first time I ever got involved in this process and thought, 鈥榃ow, this is an opportunity for me to bring together my passion for basketball with my legal education,鈥欌�� Rose said.

Gabriel Davidoff and Max Stern, president and vice president of the Sports Management Club.

After several unsuccessful attempts to get started on his own, Rose had almost given up on the idea when a coach recommended him to NBA-hopeful Chris Anstey, an Australian player looking for an agent in the United States. 鈥淚 got this call about a player who was seven feet tall, could run the floor and was being compared to Marcus Camby,鈥� Rose recalled. 鈥淚 looked at my phone and thought, 鈥榃hy is this guy calling me?鈥欌�� After flying to Australia to meet Anstey, Rose agreed to represent him鈥攁nd Anstey went on to become a first-round pick in the 1997 draft. After that, more players began to gravitate toward Rose, including NBA stars Allen Iverson and LeBron James. Creative Artists Agency approached Rose in 2006 to head a new basketball division, where he has been ever since. At YU, Rose gave students an inside perspective on the day-to-day life of an agent representing major clients, hitting on everything from negotiating salaries and contracts to player endorsement deals and relationship building. He also discussed some of the more challenging aspects of his career, talking about his experience as an agent during the 2011 NBA lockout, the impact of collective bargaining and James鈥� free agency. 鈥淵our job as an agent is to explain the pros and cons and make sure your clients have all the information necessary to make the best possible decision for themselves,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou give them your advice and your thoughts, but ultimately they make the decision, and when you walk out of that room, you and your client are one. You support that decision.鈥�

Rose answered student questions after his presentation.

Max Stern, vice president of the Sy Syms School of Business-affiliated Sports Management Club, was impressed by Rose鈥檚 openness and accessibility. 鈥淔or someone of his status, he鈥檚 a humble person who offers a good lesson for college students,鈥� he said. 鈥淗is message is, 鈥榃ork hard. The luck comes afterward.鈥欌�� Gabriel Davidoff, the club鈥檚 president, felt Rose offered an important perspective to a group considering the relationship between business and sports鈥攖hat of individual players. 鈥淟ast semester we brought in Scott O鈥橬eil, an executive who could speak about the team as a group, but seeing it from Rose鈥檚 view is also critical,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e want to keep the student body informed about sports management because it鈥檚 one of the fastest-growing industries out there and we want them to hear about it from the best in the field, people they can really learn from. So we went straight to the top.鈥� For Efraim Wakschlag, a marketing major and accounting minor hoping to pursue a career in sports marketing, the talk offered just that. 鈥淗e鈥檚 one of the top agents in the world, so to hear from someone like him about the field I want to go into is a huge deal,鈥� he said.