The Black Effect Presents: Naked with Cari Champion

here's your favorite celebrities behind the scenes. It's refreshing up then the whole story specific like all to rennivent to shape the person that you had. We got a champion and carry champion the girl you didn't. It's the greatest of sports and entertainment connected with Hey, everybody, welcome to another edition of or episode if you will, of Naked Carry Champion. And I'm still getting emails like okay, so naked are you dressed? He asked pervert. However, today I'm

brazire less. That's professional for no bra, but that that helps me relax, That helps me get into the moment where I can talk to you guys, the way in which I choose to talk to you, and that's just from a very naked, honest, vulnerable place. That's what this podcast is all about. Today's guest is a favorite fan favorite. Well, I'm the fan and he's a favorite Rich Paul, super duper agent Rich Paul. And if you don't know who he is Google, I'm pretty sure you do. Though. Here's

the thing. People often say, how are you so successful? How have you been able to maintain smart? Yes, you've got to be smart. That's as you gotta be street smart, you gotta be book smart. You have to be intelligent, you have to be savvy, you have to be polished, all of those things to determine where you will land and how long you will last and if you have staying power. But one of the things we don't her mentioned, it's not a a popular word, if you will, um

is wisdom. Very few people are wise and and and quite frankly, those who claim to be wise annoy the hell out of me. We know you wise, you ain't got to tell us. Wisdom is knowing not to say you're wise. One of my dearest friends, you guys know her, a Jamal Hill. She's so wise, refuses to say it. She's comfortable with you know the adjectives, you know, good, gel letto, get too. My other elegant hood lady, um you know, Detroit bond like. She likes all of those things.

But when you call her wise, when you give her too much attention, it makes her uncomfortable. But I'll share a story with you. I'm a big believer in having a mentor mentee relationship. And it's so weird that I'm even describing her as a mentor of mine. But the reason why I can sider her a mentor in so many ways is because she's wise. She knows how to give information, to hold back information, to receive information. She knows when to share and not to share, not always

but most most times. But she knows how to take the emotion out of a situation and give you some real, true survival tools. Those tools paid dividends for me while I was at ESPN, Which leads me to our guests, Rich Paul. I have been told over and over again about Rich Paul and who he is and how he's made it and what made him get here. He hears the noise too, all right, he hears what people say. So by way of background, Rich Paul, Maverick, Carter, Lebron

James best friends. There's a couple more people in the crew, but best friends, young black kids from acarn Ohio who decided to take a dream and make it a true reality. But not only did they make it a reality, in my opinion, they literally moved the needle. How do you do that? You're wise? I can give and I use my example with my foundation, Brown Girls Dream. I have a foundation where I literally mentor young girls and I let them in my life and I'll give them access.

I give them keys to the castle, and by that, I give them access to whomever they want to talk to and whoever they could or possibly could not work for. I give them access to people who are and there are people they would never meet in their wildest dreams. Not a brag, just like you deserve to be pushed to the front of the line because you have it, and you will be overlooked in society because of what you look like, but you have it. Now, what they do with that opportunity that I give them is up

to them. I can bring them in and put them on my platform, but then I'm going to give you the introduction the opportunity. What shall you do with it? What rich Paul has done with it, and that is that opportunity that he was given by being Lebron's best friend. Unheard of. He's no longer Lebron's best friend. He's Rich Paul super duper agent. He's the bronze agent too. Now people will be like, that's because he's just a bronze

agent who cares. That's a big, wonderful accomplishment, Like, come on, being lebron'ze agent is a big deal. I was trying to wrap him, but he didn't want to. He don't want me to wrap him. But what you do with the keys to the castle, what you do with your access, really defines whom you will be. Clutch Sports has become a major player in sports. That's his agency, That's Rich Paul's agency. He represents so many great people. Gosh, where

do I begin? Traymond Green, Anthony Davis, the list goes on and on, Miles Bridges, the list goes on and on. He has a bevy of wonderful clients. But they're not just with him because of who he knows. There with him, because of who he is and that wisdom. It's invaluable. You know why, it's invaluable because wisdom will have a friend like Jamal Hill tell me listen, ho girl, you're a star. You don't let anybody in this in this world tell you you don't matter. And this is how

you win. Literally writing out a brown print. I call it not a blueprint, but a brown print of how I am able to push forward and succeed. Here are the tools, this is what you do. Here are the keys. I'm gonna let you drive my brand new Lamborghini. Don't wreck it, just get it home safely. And if you want to take it out and do some other things, you can do that too. That's on you. But here are the keys. Whoa, whoa, y'all sit back and relax. I'm about to give you all some some keys. And

what I mean by that is some wisdom. Him Rich Paul is so wise and he don't even really know it, or he doesn't even like to be He doesn't even like to talk about it. He knows he's wise, but he don't like to talk about it, much like my homegirl, Ja Ja's like, I don't want to hear that. I can tell you about my liver and how much alcohol I've been drinking, but I definitely don't hear about how wise I am. Because she's humble as is rich about

all of his accomplishments. You will hear. So, you guys might be thinking, what's the difference between being wise and not wise? Here's here's an example, my homeboy, Paul Pierce. Gotta love you. If you're listening, PAULA, I love you, but you are not wise. Y'all saw what Paul did. It's okay to go on i G Live and you know, show someone massaging said shoulders, his shoulders and stuff. There's

nothing wrong with that. It's not okay to show the ladies dancing when you work for an entity because you are a representative of an entity. I mean, I think it would have been okay for him to be a little tipsy too. We've been tipsy on i G. I know I have, So that is not wise, okay. Wise is realizing that you are of a generation that didn't grow up broadcasting every single moment of your life, so

you don't have to broadcast now as an adult. You hear what I'm saying, y'all folks that are late thirties and forties, I gotta put everything on I G. Y'all do know that, right? Because you didn't grow up doing that there's no excuse for these kids nowadays, but that you didn't grow up doing that. So why you gotta put everything on I G. Now do you know how hard I'd like to flex some? I G by my hose and how I'm living now, I'm flashy. Now I

got this, and how I got that? I would love too, But everything ain't for I G. I don't even feel comfortable giving it to you on the Graham. That is not wise? Wise is Derek Jackson, the self love Love ambassador, who got caught cheating and then set his wife promptly down next to him, him to say, okay, baby, let's talk about this, you know, and and try to flip the script. Why is this him realizing that that was a bad move? Why drag your wife into that? Why? Why?

Why have her be subjected to all the social media nonsense and hatred and ridicule and complaints? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why go sit down somewhere, say I'm sorry and be quiet? He's he has as of late as I take this podcast, he has been quiet. Stay quiet, Be wise, be wise. You got the keys to the castle, and you correct it. Be wise? My man? Who wise is me saying to myself, Carrie, there is a reason why you end up in certain situations and you repeat yourself, and you consistently find yourself

fighting yourself. You don't always have to be in charge. You don't always have to be impatient, you don't always have to have the last word. You don't always have to sit and brood and think yourself into an attitude when you don't get your way. Whoa, oh, father, that was that was released right there? Because that was real? I digress. Yeah already, I'm ready. Let's welcome super duper agent.

I termed him that Rich Paul to naked. I've kind of always been that motivator to the to the group and too you know, young men and women, friends in school. You know, I always try to treat people a certain way, uh, you know, laugh and joke and be inclusive, even for those that didn't have when I mayle looked have had have had much. So it buries, you know, It's it's layers to it. But I am I'm appreciative of what people think of men in terms of my character. That's

that's important. At thirty nine years old, Rich Paul is president and founder of Clutched Sports Agency. Again President and founder. Now by way of background, Paul was about maybe ten years old when he went to go live with his grandmother after his father passed away. Uh Now, he says that made him be forced to at the time watch television shows like Larry King in the News. But I think ultimately, as we can see, it did help him. But it gave him a sense of maturity and responsibility.

And that is key here because by the time he was nineteen, he purchased his first home. Think about that and nineteen I was just trying to go to the club. I was trying to get a fake I d I one thing about buying a home. Fast forward to today. He runs one of the most powerful sports agencies. And what I mean by that is he really truly determines who's on that court for some of your favorite teams, fair or unfair. He is a major player in the

sports industry. I don't think that there's a specific blueprint forward. I think you just number one, you have to believe in and in yourself and believe and what you think is the right thing to do. That's where I started. That was my starting point. I believe I can be who I am. I believe that how I view the athlete and the things that needed to be done and what fashion, what's coming from a great place. I saw examples of guys who were treated different, and I didn't

feel good about it. I saw examples of guys that we're told this was the best decision, this was the only decision to be made, when it really wasn't, and I didn't feel good about that. And you know, when you're in a position to where you can't really do anything about it, it's um and you actually care. It's not just about a paycheck. Eventually, it's gonna cause you to persevered towards what your passion really is and what's really important to you and and and have the impact there.

So that was the starting point for me. You see, Rich grew up in a household where details were very important. He says, his mom used to always tell him I don't care if we live in a cardboard box, make sure it's clean. And of course his mother got that from her mother, his grandmother. It's interesting when you think about why he's so good at what he does. I

believe that it's just simple home training. Simple home training provides a skill set that most quote un traditional agents don't have, and I think you know what I mean. It's attention to detail. It's attention to everything that matters. Make sure all your eyes are dotted, in your teas are cross, but in a way that holds you accountable. It's interesting because I think that skill set sets him apart when he walks in a room, when he wants to make a deal, when he wants to decide who

in fact he will try to recruit. All of these things come into play as he tries to tell us about his childhood growing up with his grandmother. I used to watch my grandmother and she ran the house like you were run in corporation. And I'm ten years old, living with people's seventy plus, and I'm watching Larry King live, you know, may rest in peace and meet depressed and all these types. As a kid, you know, I'm ten years old, but I'm watching my grandmother do these things

very very very detail. Or the first time I've ever seen my underwear be ironed that folded a specific way, like this was every day, but this wasn't like this was every day. But prior to that, you know, I had lived with my other grandmother and we moved around and and so never had a long clock came. I never had a long I don't use a long clock to this day. Never had. I never use a long clock. I don't need it. It was just create those tabits and you learn it over time. So a lot of

things shape you. And I try to have these conversations amongst us young men who got going to have families and and nobody's perfect. By the way, I'm not perfect. Nobody's perfect. There's a lot of things that I can work on person myself. I'm trying to do that every day and get better. Back in a moment with more from Rich Paul. Every champion and carry champions, to be a champion, a champion, and carry champion, and carry champion champion and carry chappion and carry champion afraid it's the

sports and enter Tainmking naked work. Hey, everybody naked is back. We got Rich Paul. Enjoy the second half. If you ask me, Rich Paul was destined for this. Uh, it makes perfect sense, right because what he's telling us is that he had the respect of the old, but he also had the love of the new. He was the middle child. Shout out to j Coole. He was the middle child that could speak the language of one but understand the language of the other. And he was able

to communicate the two. But more importantly, once you have their ear, once you can speak their language, how do you move forward? How do you make a difference? He so eloquently explains that today's athlete is so much different than the athlete of yesteryear. Michael Jordan's not walking through that door. Kobe Bryant may he rest in peace, is not walking through that door. AI is not walking through that door. Kevin Garnett not walking through that door. Today's

athlete is a different athlete. I had the privilege of being with yesterday's stars. Yesterday's stars of the game respected me to the utmost prior to me being in this position. You know when when when Hamilton's was in Washington or Detroit, I went to his house at dinner. By the way, I can go to his house and you don't even

have to be there. The same way was for an ai Or as much as people see saw KG as this person that didn't speak to people who whatever whatever, always had words of encouragement for me and respect, and the list goes on. Gilbert Arenas will come to mabpartment soon as he get off the plane. You know, it was just like b D. It was just every pretty much every single player, and I paid attention. I paid attention to people around them. We did at a very

early age. We were obviously hanging out with guys like Jay z And and Steve Stout. You know, just had an opportunity to be Michael's Jim when we were young, very young, and so being able to blend those generations, I believe is an unbelievable asset for me because I got to see the old and the news. Here we are here, I am sitting in the middle of the athlete of yesterday and the athlete of today. I think two different ways they viewed. They viewed the black face

a different way. Today they're more open minded to a possibility of giving an opportunity, whereas of yesterday, there was no There wasn't even a conversation about it, because if you didn't again going back to the rue right, if you didn't have if he wasn't a lawyer, if you didn't have a college degree that was used to get you to to discourage a position. The rule that Rich Paul is talking about, it's called the Rich Paul rule. We'll get to that in a moment, but let me

give you background. Obviously, Rich Paul interned for a little while with CIA also working with him. His internship, for me, was just a formality. He was learning the game, he was figuring out what he was going to do, but do it better. He ultimately in started clutch sports. We all know. That's why we're talking to him now. And

then from that moment on took off. Clutched Sports began to represent the big names that I talked about, the Draymond Greens, the Anthony Davis, the John Walls, really huge power players. However, some folks got annoyed, and by some folks, I mean the n c a A. So in August of the n c a A changed the rules for agents. It said all agents had to have a college degree. That was what which was just talking about. So wait a minute, let me let me get this right. The n c a A has been around for how long

and then they just now decide agents need a college degree? Bullshit, I'm calling bullshit on a corrupt agency. Why in the world do you think they implemented what we call in sports media the Rich Paul rule. Or Rich was running game, he became powerful. Go ahead, starts a little agency in twelve. But then hold up, hold on and turn around. Oh, you're actually making waves. You're making influential decisions, You're stopping trades, You're making trades happen. You are a player in this game.

How do we get rid of them? Okay, all agents need a college degree now, so otherwise they can't talk to college players? What what? What? Hold on? What? They can't talk to certain players until I graduate? Or to wait? What what are all these asterisks that you're adding? Well, I simply said it was the Rich Paul rule. Rich was changing the game and the only way they could stop him, or at least try to stop him. Let's say that all agents needed to college degree. That all changed,

and that is fine. But it's interesting because that, I believe is when he knew he made it. But the reality of this this and I said this before, it's just about the discouragement. It's about the discouragement. People want to discourage you due to their lack infinite and positioning and you ever, you know how hard it is for somebody to say, especially in our space, how is your day to day? Is there anything I can do for you.

That's a nice shirt. I'm happy for you. And by the way, this is me working me telling you, this is me working on me. This is me working on me. But why would I give my energy to that when I'm a black man on the board of U t A. Let's talk about that. Let's talk about what that means to a kid coming up behind me and breaking down those barriers. It's not fake, It's not just something to be done a voting member. You get what I'm saying. Sugar water mannate sandwiches, transfers on the r T A,

which is that's our our transit system in Cleveland. You get a transfer, you don't have to pay the on the bus. But from that to being on the board of this establishment called United Talent Agency, Wow, The United Talent Agency is one of three largest entertainment agencies in North America. If you're in this business or you know anything about this business, him being on the board is a big deal. And I don't mind him talking to your key right now, because it is important to understand

what's happening here. The n c a A created this Rich Paul rule, which they eventually got rid of because they knew they would nothing for trying to stop Rich Paul from trying to make changes. But what he decided to do was pressed forward, which is what we all should do. Make a difference, see change, do things differently.

And not only is he like, I'm still getting my money and taking over this NBA and eventually football and eventually every other sport if need be right, what he's doing is saying, I am in a position to own the table. Being on the board of a huge, huge corporation determines how decisions are made, how people are seeing, how how you were hearing different voices in your environment, and how invaluable those voices are to me. That is a huge deal, which is why he mentions it, and

you have to talk about it. A kid from Ohio sugar water sandwiches, sugar water mayonnaise sandwiches and taking the r T a r TD for me, it's some big deal. He's pretty lucky, right. Jay Z has a record called Lucky Man, and the hook is extremely powerful. I was told as I was four years old everything that God

does not go. But now that I've arrived, I see those troops unfold, close my eyes in the world so cold, that's that's one aspect, but then the third verse, it's where he really, really and this is what hit home to me in Cleveland, Ohio, in the Glenville community where this happens, and it's it's at its height all day every day, rain, sleep, ella, snow, and I won't use the actual words, but he's saying, you know, people see me in the streets and pretend to be friendly. But

I know any type of success breeds envy. I know in the back of your mind you're conjuring ways to him me leave my friends in the circle, pouring out any but Jesus having bound, so I'm gonna receive anything. You'll port the ground next time, throw it up because they ain't nothing changed, because even in my afterlife, I show it up. Don't grief from me. Those words to come throughout a speaker. When you're in those trenches, it just hits different, so Rich says, it just hits different

when you're in the trenches. That song specifically, it's also why Rich's autobiography is appropriately titled You Mean Luck You Mean obviously a jay Z song, but also being published by jay Z's new company, rock Lit One on one. It's all one big family. I take a moment here to say that to celebrate these black men for doing something amazing. It's interesting how we often forget that they came from the streets, they came from nothing, and when they do make it, they go out of their way

to keep that hustler's mentality. It's easy to relax, it's easy to get comfortable when people know who you are and your name is being associated with the greats. But for them, and more specifically for Rich, it really has a lot to do with why he named his company

Clutch Sports Group. Take a lesson cluch as an acronym knowledge, longevity, understanding, trust, commitment or communication and honest I was riding ones going home one day in Cleveland when I was decided to start the company and thinking about a name, and I thought about something that aligned with the sport and also something you had to be in life. And I always think about these things anyway, and you had to be

clutching both. There's clutch moments, there's a clutch gene, and you don't just need it on the court or on the field. You need to clutch gene in life as well. And so that's why it's made so I may be biased, but I do believe that the greatest moment in Clutch Sports history was on July one, other than when they actually created the company. But do you guys remember that one sentence press release from Clutch Sports Group, Essentially, Lebron James has agreed to a four year, one D and

fifty four million dollar contract with the Los Angeles Lakers. Done, No more, no fuss, That's all you get. I'm gonna give you no more, no nothing. And I'm like, yo, Rich, I mean, y'all just gonna drop a one sentence press release and not respond to any media. Why is that?

I think less is more? You know, obviously he we did the decision, and then we did the you know, the return to home, the letter, and so in this case, you know, less was more and it's very matter of fact, and it was really fun because obviously, you know, you grew up here, you grew up in l A. And

it was it's gonna it's gonna hit different for you anyway. Um. But look, you know, coming there, Lebron was really passionate about his conversations and what the conversation had with Magic and the conversation that he had with with with Jennie has such time and just let her know, like, look, I'm committed. I'm committed, and the ultimate goal was to bring a championship back to what I believe is one

of the best franchises our league has ever known. Obviously how Dr Bus carried it and how Jennie has carried it, uh since her takeover of the organization and whatnot. But yeah, you know those are those are really cool moments. So Rich has a lot of those cool moments, as he describes, right, I'm a bit of a fan. I'm like a cool moment. It's a little more than a cool moment, but I'll let you have it, Rich. But it's full circle. This

entire experience is full circle. He describes the time when the o G is like Kobe may rest in peace, kg Ai. We're all giving him words of encouragement, giving him wisdom, giving him game, and here he is now doing the exact same thing. He said. He learned that that would be the key to any type of success or peace. And you want to have both, don't you, Which is why he is so honest with all of

his players. It has to be real. Look at all the guys, Anthony Draymond to John, say, Darius, you know both, Darius, you know, I mean the list goes on and on. The guys that that we that we represent. In most cases of a time, we do have a have a comment ground respect, We value one another, we hold we hold one another accountable. There's no yes environment. You know, I don't. I don't never feel with anyone that we represent that I have to lie to them about anything.

And we know that has not been the case previous years and current because in most cases, if I don't tell you what you want to hear. In my position, now I'm walking on eggshells. I don't walk on eggshells. And by the way, players, I don't rep I shoot a straight because that's the only thing I know. I think Rich Paul's greatest quality, and his naked quality, is that he's wise. And I think he learned that from his grandmother. He talks about being a teen year old

living with his grandmother. Imagine all of the free jewelry she was given out, just dropping gems day in and day out. It's whether or not he received it. Clearly it landed on fertile soil. So for that, I say respect. We all know a lot. We all can read, we can all find out information, we can talk to our mentors, we can we can get whatever information we need. Now it's what we do with that information, and that's why

I applaud Rich Paul. He was selling jerseys, authentic jerseys in two thousand and three and he was making a lot of money, and to a kid by the name of Lebron, James said, come work in my inner circle because I think I need you, I can trust you. And next thing you know, fast forward to He couldn't have envisioned this, no one could. But what he did know and what he relied on was wisdom. Someone just asked me, what is this is pretty funny. What is

the definition of wisdom? And it could be for me many things, but the quality of having experience, knowledge and good judgment, the quality of being wise, the soundness of an action order decision with regard to the application of experience, knowledge and good judgment. In short, what the hell you learned today? I hope you learned something. Thank you for listening to this edition of Naked with Carrie Champion. M two