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