Rich Paul is one of the richest and most influential sports agents in the entire league. His friendship with LeBron James goes back to even before they both started their careers in the NBA. But before handling million-dollar contracts, Paul honed his skills in a different kind of game. One that helped him make thousands of dollars daily at the age of 14. 

Since then he has been making major moves in the NBA. After LeBron got drafted, he took a bet on Rich Paul and hired him as his agent for an annual salary. His friendship with LeBron goes back decades when he joined him on an annual salary to represent him. Soon after, he became a close confidant of LeBron. He eventually formed his own agency that represents many other NBA stars like Anthony Davis, Draymond Green, Zach Lavine, and others. 

The dice game that made thousands in a day

On CBS News’ The 60 Minutes Interview, Rich Paul talks at length about the much-concealed world of sports agents. He honed his dealmaking instinctive skills, winning dice games as a kid taught by his father. Paul reminisces in the open-air casinos of his youth, where he and his best friend Edward Givens were regulars. He had created his own makeshift arena, which gathered more than 50 people and the energy was high for stakes. 

When the host prompted how much was he able to earn just by dropping dice, his humble response was “A slow day $1,000”. And a not-slow day? He responded by thinking a bit and said, “Ah- you know, $4000 or 5000“. This early experience taught him resilience and the ability to handle both wins and losses.

His friendship with LeBron goes back to 2000s

Rich’s most notable achievement is perhaps securing a whopping $400 million deal for LeBron, marking one of the highest payouts in NBA history. Rich and LeBron first met in their hometown, Akron, Ohio, during the early 2000s. At the time, Rich was selling throwback jerseys out of the trunk of his car, which caught LeBron’s attention, and their friendship started from that point on. 

READ MORE: Best Friend Rich Paul’s $197,230,450 Move Dethroned LeBron James for Massive Cleveland Crown, Despite Beating Historic Odds vs Stephen Curry’s Warriors

From the humble beginnings of betting at a young age, Paul went on to take some of the biggest swings in sports history.

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