The veteran analyst Dan Dakich, known for his no-filter takes, recently unloaded a fiery rant, absolutely tearing into Perkins’ NIL venture called “Nilly.” In case you haven’t heard already, Perkins and a Wall Street veteran, Chris Ricciardi, teamed up to offer athletes upfront payments in exchange for a cut of their future NIL earnings. It will be the first and only company offering cash advances on college NIL earnings.

Perkins believes, “You have so many athletes and their parents who are struggling day-to-day.” Hence, they are taking a “gamble” on the potential earnings of the student-athlete in the NIL space. However, the benefit is that the student-athlete gains financial security, allowing them to avoid feeling pressured to rush into deals.

Kendrick Perkins’ venture hasn’t convinced a few

Perkins claims that his goal is to give athletes financial security upfront so they don’t have to worry about making money immediately. But Dakich warns, “I’ll bet you money within three years, this thing is either gone, screwed up.” He joins a couple of experts in addressing concern. 

Chris Peterson, a law professor, and Michael Haddic Jr., CEO of Scout, were two others to describe it as, ‘taking advantage of young athletes’ who haven’t thought about the long-term implications. 

And This isn’t the first time a deal like this has caused controversy. In 2018, Francisco Mejía, a Major League Baseball player signed a similar deal with Big League Advance (BLA) when he was struggling financially. He later sued them, saying the contract was unfair and locked him into giving away too much of his future earnings. Hence, Courtney Altemus, co-founder of Advance NIL, advises avoiding long-term agreements. “They don’t understand it until they see the numbers,” she said. 

Nilly has signed 20 athletes so far from college and high school, for whom Perkins says, Nilly will help open the doors to the opportunities he wishes he had in his time.