NBA fans smell something fishy in a new rule that would reportedly place restrictions on agents who hope to act as a liasion between college athletes and the league. College basketball reporter Jon Rothstein shared the rule change on Twitter, noting that agents hoping to represent NCAA athletes would need a bachelor's degree, a long-standing certification with the Players Association, and a passing grade on a certification test that would take place at the NCAA's head office.
Everybody worried about Paul. do you know you can’t even have a family member like Kawhi’s unc rep you? Not your dad like Tobias Harris? Not a close friend. Only who has passed the good old boy test. You’re not even in school and they rule you and force you to pay an agent
LeBron James, a client of Paul, also agrees:
Others said that the qualifications looked like a way to keep black agents out of the profession. Placing barriers in the way of agents would bar many inner-circle and family agents from representing the athletes they are connected to and becoming successful.
This is nothing new, this is how they’ve historically kept Black people from rising to the top in professions.
The new restrictions come along with a wider loosening of the rules regarding agents in the NCAA. The collegiate sports organization recently announced that basketball players would be allowed to retain the services of an agent, an act that would have once risked their eligibility to play college ball.
