The NBA is in its player empowerment era, and it started over a decade ago when LeBron James and his agent Rich Paul ushered his move from Cleveland to Miami.
But what does Paul, one of the pioneers of the movement, actually think of the NBA's power structure?
ESPN analyst JJ Redick asked Paul about the power dynamics in the NBA when he guested the Klutch Sports Group founder on his podcast, "The Old Man and the Three" in an episode that aired on Oct. 19.
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Paul said that amid the perception of player empowerment, there are only a few players that actually have leverage over their organizations and teams to request for things that they desire.
"There's only about 2% of players in our league that actually have power," Paul said.
After James left Cleveland in 2010, it became the norm in the NBA for players to demand trades from their franchises or to bolt from the team's that originally drafted them in an attempt to win titles elsewhere. This has been done by stars like Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, and most recently, Damian Lillard.
Paul said that there are several elements that go into a player having power over their own situation. He said that it starts with "play" or simply player performance, and moves on to professionalism and the ability to garner respect from everyone, including team owners.
He said that while a lot of players make "max money" or receive the maximum allowable salary from a team, it doesn't mean they deserve it or can act as though they have a lot of power. But some of them end up doing so.
"I hate the word 'max' because it gives you this entitlement and that's where you lost it all," Paul said. "Between that entitlement and your ego, it really stuns the growth of you professionally."
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And Redick mentioned that he only sees two players right now who have ultimate power in the league not only because they've been given the money, but because they have also continued to be professional while producing on the court.
"There's two players to me. It's [LeBron] and Steph [Curry]," Redick said. "When we talk about those three things, those guys do it all the time. They're the most consistent m******f****** there are."
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