When Lil Wayne first started to kick around the idea of starting a sports agency about three years ago, it seemed like he was going to be able to make a big splash in the sports world by doing it. If you remember, there were some rumblings about him potentially working with Cristiano Ronaldo at the time.
But it’s seemingly been a lot more difficult for Wayne to get Young Money APAA Sports off the ground than we all originally thought it would be. While Wayne is obviously one of the most popular rappers among professional athletes, there haven’t been very many of them who have put their trust in Wayne and his YM Sports team just yet. YM Sports did score big when they signed Falcons linebacker Duke Riley during this past offseason, and Wayne has already gone on the record and compared Riley to Drake in terms of how talented he thinks he could end being. But the rest of the YM Sports roster leaves a lot to be desired and includes names like:
- Frank Mason
- Kadeem Allen
- Reggie Northrup
- Dede Westbrook
- Andrew White
That’s not necessarily a shot at any of these guys, but the majority of people out there probably aren’t familiar with them. It goes to show just how hard YM Sports is going to have to work before they get on the same level as all of the much larger sports agencies out there.
It looks like Wayne & co. are going to continue plugging along, though, and to that end, they have decided to diversify their roster by dipping a toe into the boxing world and signing undefeated light middleweight boxer Erickson "The Hammer"Â Lubin to YM Sports. The 21-year-old is currently 18-0 and could transform himself into the star YM Sports needs right now. He is slated to take on Jermell Charlo for the WBC light middleweight title at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Oct. 14, and if he wins, he could turn into a much bigger deal than he is today.
But Lubin could also lose to Charlo and quickly end any thoughts of him putting YM Sports on the map.
In fairness to YM Sports, it’s going to take them time to really establish themselves and get pro athletes to trust them with their business, regardless of whether or not Lubin pans out. Sports agencies aren’t built overnight.
But we imagine Wayne pictured this whole sports agency thing playing out a lot differently than it has. Long gone are the days of talking about deals with Ronaldo. Instead, he’s going to have to hope to catch a break with someone like Lubin leading the way.
