Although not an NBA star, Rich Paul has a gallant resume. What started as a small business in 2012, Rich Paul expanded on it to do deals worth $4 billion and more for the world’s elite sports stars. His venture, the Klutch Sports Group, has a deep clientele that includes LeBron James, Draymond Green, and many more. However, the one person his brand does not have is Kevin Durant. Yet, the Slim Reaper did not falter when it came to recognizing Paul’s vision with their massive collaboration via Boardroom.

Paul found himself to be the leader in September’s cover story by the Boardroom, which Kevin Durant co-founded with Rich Kleiman. To celebrate the visionary story of the man behind Klutch Sports Group. Boardroom put forth an Instagram post writing, “Representing 500+ athletes in four different sports across four continents, @richpaul has built not only one of the strongest agencies in the world — but a brand to match.”

Sure enough, Durant shared the intriguing teaser on his IG story and tagged the agent with a three-word message, “Walking living legend.” Klutch Sports is a breath of fresh air when it comes to representing talent that actually puts them as the center of attention. Paul created the agency with a goal of navigating the rapid changes for modern-day athletes, empowering them with the agency’s motto of trust, commitment, and honesty. It stands unparalleled in the sports’ business world as it promises the athletes something that legacy brands falter on.

In just a few short years, the start-up agency grew as a legacy institution for elite stars in the world of sports. Paul has represented more than 500 athletes across four different continents. Talking about his initial jump into management on a podcast show last year, Paul said, “No, there was no thought, but I’m an impulsive guy. There was no, there was no thought of like, oh, this is all going to be planned out. I’m going to do this like this.”

Notably Klutch Sports Group has long been associated with LeBron James. And many believe that the association is one reason for Paul’s success. LeBron was a teenager when Paul first met him and the latter had a jersey resale business. Soon, he was paying Paul $48,000 a year, being confident about Paul’s abilities. Klutch Sports was started in 2012, nine years after LeBron’s N.B.A. career began. Understandably, LeBron became one of the first clients in that. It had surprised many, and a theory was immediately floated.

The other agents started questioning Paul’s abilities. He did not even have a college degree and they thought that he became a star athlete’s aide by a stroke of luck. Maverick Carter, who handled LeBron’s business affairs for years and is the chief executive of The SpringHill Company, an entertainment and production company he founded with the former Lakers star, described the situation perfectly.

it seemed as if Paul’s “first name was ‘LeBron’s’ and my [Carter’s] last name was ‘friend.’” In fact, LeBron is also aware of this and strongly opposes it. “It’s straight-up disrespectful when they say, ‘Rich Paul is only successful because he’s doing this with LeBron. That’s like saying I don’t demand the same excellence from my partners that I demand of myself, or that Rich’s other clients don’t think for themselves,” the 4x NBA had written in Paul’s memoir, “Lucky Me.”

However, Paul himself does not dispute the claims. Without any hesitation, he accepts that had he not been associated with LeBron, his career would have been different. The agency now has 198 clients who are part of the NBA, WNBA, NFL, and athletes looking for deals related to their name, image, and likeness (NIL). Klutch has a partnership with United Talent Agency, and Paul is the co-head of UTA’s sports division. Evidently, he could not have attained this without his own acumen and talent. But every success comes with its own criticism.

Some NBA agents criticize him for his aggressiveness, especially how his company pursues clients from other agencies. But Paul takes pride in the fact that many of his clients began their careers with other agents. According to him, it is a testament to his PR skills. “This is one thing my dad always taught us: No matter what somebody else is doing to you or done to you, that don’t mean you follow suit. You stay the course. You do what you know is right,” Paul said. Indeed, forging his own path has paid him big time.

So, even KD gave Paul his flowers by singing his praises and making him Boardroom’s cover story for the month. However, he did pass on the opportunity of parenting with the agency, rejecting his pitch.

When an “Unregistered” Rich Paul failed at recruiting Kevin Durant

Long before Klutch Sports, when Paul was still trying to boost his overarching business acumen, he was trying to recruit KD with his pitch. Excerpts of his attempts were revealed in his conversation with Lewis Howes in an episode of the podcast show, “The School of Greatness”, last year. “I was actually recruiting at that time. I was recruiting Kevin Durant to where I was at, to come to that agency. I was getting all this talent without even being a registered agent. I didn’t have the business card, I didn’t have the office, I barely had meetings” Paul revealed.

However, the agent failed miserably in his pursuit as KD picked a different agency instead. Currently, KD is managed by his long-time pal, Rich Kleiman. Interestingly, Kleiman had also praised Paul previously. Kleiman was working with Jay-Z when he met Paul. “Flawlessly confident. There’s a way to be confident where you can make anyone believe you,” he had said about Paul.

Imagine what it would have been like if Durant had also been part of the Klutch umbrella alongside LeBron and Draymond. But that was a long time ago and both parties have achieved immense success since then.

Sure enough, just like Durant acknowledged the agent’s greatness, Paul also sang praises of the two-time champion in a recent interview, “I think that just appreciating the guys, appreciating LeBron, appreciating Kevin Durant, appreciating Steph Curry, like appreciating these guys… just understanding how Kevin just, he just loves the game, he is just a pure basketball player, right? And we see what that gets you.” Are you excited about Durant and Rich Paul’s latest collaboration?