Speaker 1: On this episode of This League, we dissect the history
Speaker 1: of one of the worst contract.
Speaker 2: Blunders in the NBA history, Baby Neuralan's Noel.
Speaker 1: Not a name that casual sports fans really think about
Speaker 1: all that much, But there was a lot of greed
Speaker 1: that got us to this place, a lot of bad
Speaker 1: decisions that got us to this place. And now we
Speaker 1: have some brand new tea that makes this something that
Speaker 1: we discuss right here on the episode.
Speaker 2: It is a wild fucking.
Speaker 1: Story, how it started, how it is, and how it's
Speaker 1: about to finish. Probably gonna cost someone their job, probably
Speaker 1: gonna cost someone their business, Probably gonna cost someone almost
Speaker 1: one hundred million dollars. Marty, do me a favor and
Speaker 1: drop the fucking beating.
Speaker 2: To take care and said.
Speaker 3: You'll be waiting for.
Speaker 4: Quan never got the queen and if go, let me go.
Speaker 2: So Dennis Shrewder.
Speaker 1: Made a bad decision. But before there was Dennis Shrewder,
Speaker 1: there was Neurlin's. Now. So for those who don't remember,
Speaker 1: because there's a lot of people who don't remember, twenty seventeen,
Speaker 1: Nerlin's Noel turned down four years, seventy million dollars from
Speaker 1: the MAVs. He was like yeah, yeah, I'm a bet
Speaker 1: on myself. And just like shrewder Neurlin's Noel got injured.
Speaker 1: Well actually Den Schruder didn't get injured, but they both
Speaker 1: lost a lot of money.
Speaker 2: Nerlans Noel injured his thumb. He sprained his thumb.
Speaker 1: And then he ended up not getting that deal from
Speaker 1: the MAVs, and then he ended up going from place
Speaker 1: to place to place on a bunch of minimum deals.
Speaker 1: And everybody around is a cautionary tale, and everybody around
Speaker 1: was kind of like, wow, either him or his agent
Speaker 1: made a massive miscalculation. Turns out it was actually something much.
Speaker 2: More nefarious, and this is the deal.
Speaker 1: Rich Paul is a snake, That's what really it is
Speaker 1: in a nutshell.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean this blew my mind.
Speaker 5: Like I've said, like for years, like how did he
Speaker 5: not like sue his agent for malpractice or like what?
Speaker 5: And I know we're like getting like towards like what
Speaker 5: this story turns into, but the fact that Rich Paul
Speaker 5: was involved in this just blew this story.
Speaker 6: Like this is like my dream, my dream too.
Speaker 1: It's like it's like nerd T Like this is NBA
Speaker 1: Nerd fucking tea. So it's like for US basketball fans.
Speaker 1: This is this is it, baby, This is the onions.
Speaker 1: This is the curtain. We get, we get a little
Speaker 1: peak behind the curtain, the dirty ass business that is
Speaker 1: the NBA. All right, At this point, for your seventy
Speaker 1: million dollars gets offered to Neurlins Noel. He is being
Speaker 1: represented by my guy, full disclosure, friend of the show,
Speaker 1: Happy Walters. Happy Walters is like, YO, take that money,
Speaker 1: take that money, then Neurlans Noel.
Speaker 6: Of course.
Speaker 1: The best part of this Nerlin's Noel goes to the
Speaker 1: Simmons's birthday party, Yes, Yes, goes to Ben Simmons's birthday party,
Speaker 1: of course, and sees Rich Paul and Rich Paul fucking poaches.
Speaker 2: Neurlin's no Weel tells him to turn that deal down.
Speaker 2: Why does he tell him to turn it down?
Speaker 1: Because that money goes to Happy Walters Because it's.
Speaker 2: The end of that contract.
Speaker 1: So you signed deals with agents for a certain period
Speaker 1: of time, and if you signed a new deal at
Speaker 1: that point in time, then the entire duration of that deal,
Speaker 1: the four years, all that commission goes to Happy. But
Speaker 1: if you wait extra year and your contract expires and
Speaker 1: you have a new agent, then that new agent gets
Speaker 1: all the forward.
Speaker 2: Commission, not the old agent.
Speaker 1: So that is why Rich Paul said, hey, homie, bet
Speaker 1: on yourself. You're a hundred million dollar man, and I
Speaker 1: can get you one hundred million dollars.
Speaker 2: And listen, that sounds like a lot of extra money, a.
Speaker 1: Lot of extra money compared to the Denis Shruder turning
Speaker 1: down at like three million, thinking he would get three million.
Speaker 2: Dollars more a year. This is like a whole other thing.
Speaker 1: This is like ten ten to eight to ten million
Speaker 1: dollars extra year.
Speaker 6: Yeah, thirty in total, thirty and total quite a bit.
Speaker 1: So now Neurlan Noel is fucking suing Rich Paul, being like, hey,
Speaker 1: you gave me bad advice, and then once I hurt myself,
Speaker 1: you stopped fielding calls all together on my behalf, which
Speaker 1: is even.
Speaker 2: More fucked up.
Speaker 6: Right, yeah, exactly, this is what he said.
Speaker 1: Nerleans, Noel just filed a suit against Rich Paul for
Speaker 1: quote unquote misleading and neglecting him while he was a client.
Speaker 1: According to Darren Heidner, who's a scumbag on the sports
Speaker 1: agent blog, Noel alleges that Paul misled and neglected him
Speaker 1: when he was a client of Clutch Sports before even
Speaker 1: developing an official partnership. So again, shady as fuck. Rich
Speaker 1: Paul told Noel twenty seven free agency that he was
Speaker 1: one hundred million dollar man, which led Noel to not
Speaker 1: only leaving the agent, Happy Walters, but also turning down
Speaker 1: four year, seventy million dollar offer from the Dallas Mavericks
Speaker 1: to accept a qualifying offer. When Noel battled injuries the
Speaker 1: following season, his value cratered no shit, But according to
Speaker 1: the act accusations, Paul never tried to redeem his client.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, imagine getting talked out of leaving a
Speaker 1: respected guy like Happy Walters.
Speaker 2: And at this point Rich Paul wasn't as big of
Speaker 2: as he is now twenty seventeen.
Speaker 6: No, he was creeping up there, but wasn't on the
Speaker 6: cover of magazines.
Speaker 1: No, So you leave a respected guy who literally has
Speaker 1: been in the business twenty five years.
Speaker 2: He is the creed like he is the impetus.
Speaker 1: The catalyst to Happy gilmore like Happy as an institution.
Speaker 1: And he's like, yo, I can get you seventy million dollars,
Speaker 1: just take it right.
Speaker 5: Now, which is an insane deal to get for a
Speaker 5: center in twenty seventeen, like teams knew, I mean smart
Speaker 5: teams knew that the center position is becoming less and
Speaker 5: less valuable.
Speaker 6: And he got you seventy million from Mark Cuban.
Speaker 2: Yes, and you say not yes, thank you, but no thank.
Speaker 6: You, Like that's a sick deal that he was able
Speaker 6: to swindle.
Speaker 1: Great, great deal, happy like good work, nice work, happy, yes,
Speaker 1: Like can we just for happy because that deal was insane.
Speaker 2: Neurlin's then, as some people remember, sprained his thumb.
Speaker 1: Okay, So then at this point, Rich Paul just ignores
Speaker 1: his existence. Teams are calling and they're all was like, hey,
Speaker 1: how come I'm not getting any new deals?
Speaker 2: Like you said I was one hundred million dollar man,
Speaker 2: blah blah blah.
Speaker 1: Then it comes out like teams are reaching out to
Speaker 1: Rich Paul to try to do a couple year deals
Speaker 1: two years, this, two years, and Rich Paul just is
Speaker 1: refusing to answer the phone. Teams are now calling Neuralins
Speaker 1: Noel and being like, I can't reach your agent. Wow,
Speaker 1: scummy scummy forty from seventy million dollars to four million
Speaker 1: dollars because Rich Paul didn't want some other agent to
Speaker 1: get the commission.
Speaker 2: God damn, he's a scumbag. That is a scumbag. I
Speaker 2: don't care how many good things he's done for the community.
Speaker 1: I don't care how many things he's done for Lebron,
Speaker 1: I don't care how many good things he's done for
Speaker 1: other athletes.
Speaker 2: That is a fucking scumbag. Move.
Speaker 6: Now, you can't screw over your clients. No, no, you can't.
Speaker 1: First of all, you shouldn't be poaching other people's clients
Speaker 1: in the middle of a contract negotiation.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, especially when he's.
Speaker 1: Got a good deal which is very obviously a sweetheart
Speaker 1: deal for Mark Cuban, who is not known to do
Speaker 1: that kind of a deal, right, and then all of
Speaker 1: a sudden just pretend.
Speaker 2: Just ghost him. Fuck, what does all this mean? I
Speaker 2: think Rich Paul is going to have to pay up?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean there's a bunch of legal like shit
Speaker 5: that I don't like fully understand, but definitely seems like
Speaker 5: he isn't the wrong And.
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is what the lawsuit states.
Speaker 1: The belief was that Paul and Clutch Sports were only
Speaker 1: focused on serving their marquee clients and did not have
Speaker 1: the capacity to provide competent service to their other clients,
Speaker 1: such as Noel or other players like Norris Cole Shabazmuhammad
Speaker 1: as as additional examples, both out.
Speaker 2: Of the league, both out of the league. What does
Speaker 2: that say?
Speaker 1: What that says is, if you're a Rich Paul, you
Speaker 1: hire other agents underneath you to serve those B level guys.
Speaker 2: You don't just fucking ignore them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, don't think young and up and coming players aren't
Speaker 1: going to see this and be like fuck that. As
Speaker 1: it turns out, If it turns out that these accusations
Speaker 1: are true, I think he's gonna need to lock down
Speaker 1: a Dell pretty much right away because you lose one
Speaker 1: hundred million dollars and you you become a trophy husband
Speaker 1: fan like you need to just support her and her endeavors,
Speaker 1: because holy.
Speaker 2: Shit, here's a little here's a little.
Speaker 1: Like story about So now more details come out about
Speaker 1: why Nerlens Noel decided to sue Rich Paul to begin with,
Speaker 1: because this is where it gets crazy. So Nerleans Noel
Speaker 1: gets that first deal from the New York Knicks, that
Speaker 1: first one year, five million dollar deal, and a guy
Speaker 1: who has been largely not servicing his client says to Neuralans,
Speaker 1: you owe me to under grant for that commission. I'm
Speaker 1: still still your agent, and Nerlins Noel was like, I
Speaker 1: got this deal.
Speaker 2: You did nothing. You literally talked to no one.
Speaker 1: The Knicks reached out to me, I did this deal,
Speaker 1: not you, And rich Paul's like, no, no, I'm filing
Speaker 1: a grievance against you for that money.
Speaker 2: Greed is a hell of a drug.
Speaker 3: Isn't it.
Speaker 1: Neurlans Noel might not have ever suit him if it
Speaker 1: weren't for that. Nolan's Noel has dropped. Rich Paul is
Speaker 1: no longer dealing with him at all. And this guy
Speaker 1: still wants that fucking commission because he signed into that
Speaker 1: long term deal and is still.
Speaker 2: Contractually obligated to get that money.
Speaker 1: And so instead of Neurlean's Noel paying Matt two hundred thousand,
Speaker 1: he decides to counter see him and he's like, no, no.
Speaker 2: Actually, you owe me fifty eight million dollars.
Speaker 1: I was gonna let this shit slide because you know,
Speaker 1: it's all about energy of the universe.
Speaker 6: But fuck you.
Speaker 2: That happened to me.
Speaker 1: By the way, I had an agent try to take
Speaker 1: commission that he didn't deserve. When I came to Barschool,
Speaker 1: I got this so I had an agent at Uta.
Speaker 2: His name is J. B. Fitzgerald and calling out names.
Speaker 2: So Matt uta with him and he ends up so.
Speaker 1: I end up signing with him when I'm at USA
Speaker 1: today and he's trying to get me and I'm non exclusive,
Speaker 1: I'm not under contract.
Speaker 2: I could leave it anytime.
Speaker 1: And he legitimately was pitching his other clients over me,
Speaker 1: to other companies like ESPN or Bacher Report or whatever,
Speaker 1: and he would tell me all this bullshit about how
Speaker 1: like I wasn't the type of client that they were
Speaker 1: looking for. And I found out from all these other
Speaker 1: companies after the fact that he was never pitching me
Speaker 1: to begin with.
Speaker 6: Damn.
Speaker 1: So then I ended up getting this job myself and
Speaker 1: negotiating the deal myself.
Speaker 2: And then he asked for.
Speaker 1: Ten percent, and I was like, you know what, I'm
Speaker 1: out you deserve not a goddamn thing.
Speaker 2: You are a snake.
Speaker 1: You lied to my face, and I'm always like a
Speaker 1: baby version of neuralans Noel. And then like, greed is
Speaker 1: a hell of a drug man, Greed Now Rich Paul's
Speaker 1: name is getting dragged through the mud. My question for you,
Speaker 1: Marty is if you're a new person coming into the league,
Speaker 1: new player, and you see all of this about Rich Paul,
Speaker 1: do you still sign with them?
Speaker 5: I demand serious answers about what went down here and
Speaker 5: need some provision in my contract, like I need this
Speaker 5: amount of FaceTime with you, I need this amount of reassurance.
Speaker 5: I'm definitely pushing hard and honestly like me already like
Speaker 5: probably would have gone in a different direction than Clutch
Speaker 5: just to begin with, Like that's not really like my
Speaker 5: style of how I want to be represented. But yeah, no,
Speaker 5: I think it hurts. I think it definitely hurts. Maybe
Speaker 5: not with the like superstar like big name guys, but
Speaker 5: for guys that are maybe you know, like mid first
Speaker 5: round picks to late first round picks, Like yeah, I'm
Speaker 5: thinking long and hard about signing with Clutch, even.
Speaker 1: Like a Nurkish, even current clients that have him as
Speaker 1: your agent. You just have to think to yourself, like god, damn,
Speaker 1: I need to call Neurlans Noel and find out what
Speaker 1: the deal was. Yeah, yikes. More to come on this story.
Speaker 1: Cannot wait to see how it unfolds. That's all the
Speaker 1: time that we have for this League podcast. Please like,
Speaker 1: please rate, Please subscribe on Apple and Spotify. Please follow
Speaker 1: us on YouTube. That is where you see Marty's beautiful
Speaker 1: face and his haircut. Also, please follow us on TikTok,
Speaker 1: on Twitter and on ig. I think that's all and
Speaker 1: we will see you Monday for the next episode of
Speaker 1: this leak.
Speaker 4: The figure they come on, how they fall. It's time
Speaker 4: to risk it all. Say hello to the big dog,
Speaker 4: say goodbye to all the falls. Keep it a hunt
Speaker 4: and keep it on honey, and keep it a down
Speaker 4: out of certain people so that we don't allow no no,
Speaker 4: no bowl pole, No no.
Speaker 3: No bowl pole. You a slow pole, all black hog?
Speaker 3: It would stay. Who come the best?
Speaker 4: I'm the best case closed rock, count rock.
Speaker 6: I ain't no Joe, give me that.
Speaker 3: Give me that you mean he give me that? Give
Speaker 3: me that, give me that. I want this and now
Speaker 3: what you mean? I can't have that?
Speaker 4: Stay your lane, lor, it's lane a skirt stirred on him.
Speaker 4: Stay your lame, Penny lad a skirt skirt on them.
Speaker 3: Big big, big big dog, big doll, big dog, walk in,
Speaker 3: big dog, walk in with the doll.
Speaker 4: I'm a risk it all. I'm a risk it all.
Speaker 4: I'm a risk it all. A big big, big big dog,
Speaker 4: wake dog, big dog walk in, big dog.
Speaker 3: Okay with the dog doll. I'm a risk it all.
Speaker 3: I'm a risk it all. I'm a risk it all. Ooh,
Speaker 3: you got a risk it just to get a biscuit?
Speaker 6: Biscuit?
Speaker 3: How many licks does it take the liquor?
Speaker 4: She wont a liquor trapper, but she already to lickt
Speaker 4: a rapper. Oh my, oh my, so fly, so fly six,
Speaker 4: I stay fly, I stay fly wilde have to get by.
Speaker 4: I want it all out a piece of the pie.
Speaker 4: Everybody eats everybody, and we keep all of the receipts.
Speaker 3: We good and we living good. We'd have made up
Speaker 3: about the hood. Give me that, give me that, give
Speaker 3: me akive me that, give me that, give me that
Speaker 3: you that I want this and that what you mean?
Speaker 3: I can't have that?
Speaker 4: Stang a lane Lois Lena starts stirred on him. Stang
Speaker 4: your lame, Penny Laider starts stirred on him. Big big,
Speaker 4: big big dog, big doll, big dog, walk in.
Speaker 3: Big dog, walk in with the dog. I'm anna risk
Speaker 3: it all. I'm a risk it all. I'm a risk
Speaker 3: it all. Allee.
Speaker 4: Big big, big big dog with dog, big dog walk in,
Speaker 4: big dog, walking with the dog.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna risk it all. I'm a risk it all.
Speaker 4: I'm a risk it all Lie