Sports Illustrated and Empower Onyx are putting the spotlight on the diverse journeys of Black women across sports—from the veteran athletes, to up-and-coming stars, coaches, executives and more—in the series, Elle-evate: 100 Influential Black Women in Sports.
Today’s generation of athletes are no longer just competitors, they are much more—they are businesses, commodities, brands. They’re more sophisticated, with an understanding that there is more to a legacy in sports than collecting championship rings, or signing huge contracts or lucrative sneaker deals.
That’s where Nikki Duckett comes in to play, navigating through the legalese and creatively advising her athlete client base on the type of decisions that will help them build their legacies off the court. Think of her firm, the Nikki Duckett Collective, as business expansion for players. “I’m seeing athletes become CEO of their own brands,” Duckett says. “I realized [that] the missing piece to really help these athletes take their careers and brands to the next level is high level legal representation.”
Serving as general counsel for the Clippers for the last seven years, Duckett decided to make a move from her NBA position to launch her legal consulting firm for athletes in July 2022. After decades of work as a litigator at three Los Angeles firms, Duckett joined the Clippers in ’15, becoming the first and only Black woman to serve as the top lawyer for an NBA team.
Former Clippers coach Doc Rivers praised her latest decision as brilliant and game-changing for the industry, and commended her work during her tenure with the franchise. From building the team’s legal department from the ground up; to serving an integral role in numerous deals between the franchise and Fortune 500 companies such as American Airlines, Kia Motors and Red Bull; to negotiating one of the league’s most lucrative television deals, Duckett has made an indelible impact in L.A.
Walking away from all that she’s accomplished in the NBA wasn’t easy, but it was necessary for a woman like Duckett, who follows her heart over her head, even when it comes to business. That’s the key characteristic that distinguishes her from her peers and earn her client’s trust.
“Sure, I have decades of experience in sports and business law,” Duckett says. “But I bring intuition, creativity and innovation, and those are the pieces that are often missing in these more conscientious business endeavors that I really believe these athletes need.”
For Duckett, each client is different, and what serves them—and the community at large—is what’s important to her. She knows how to channel the money, power and influence that so many athletes have and use it for the greater good, both in the U.S. and worldwide.
“The monetary piece is there, but the deeper impact is to guide these athletes in using their influence in a way that is truly conscientious, thoughtful, beneficial, to not just the athletes, their teams and their communities, but to all the people that look up to them,” she says. “That’s important to me.”
Having the ability to speak to people with compassion and make connections is something Duckett learned as a child. Growing up, her father worked at a big oil company and her family moved all around the globe. At an early age, Duckett learned how to speak to people’s emotional language, a skill she uses to this day when conversing with athletes. Because she can connect with them, her clients gravitate to her and trust her with their important legal decisions.
Early on in her law career, Duckett also honed her writing skills and learned how to use the power of persuasion in the courtroom. When advocating for clients, she came to understand the importance of not just reporting facts but telling the human side of story. It was a strategy that paid off—Duckett never lost a case during her 16 years in private practice. She decided to tap into her writing skills and creative spirit with the creation of a forthcoming children’s book series, The Adventures of Marie LeDoux, which tells the story of a 10-year-old biracial girl living in Norway. It’s a lesson in universal love, the power of the divine and the power of self-love.
The Nikki Duckett Collective is as unique as Nikki Duckett herself; it’s a cumulation of all her extensive business experiences combined with her life experiences, and the personal conviction that people have a human story and goal, even when it comes to legal matters. Duckett was brave enough to create a new business, now she is living a dream come true.
Whether legally advising a major NBA franchise, taking the brave leap to start a new firm, or even writing a children’s book, confidence is at the core of everything Duckett does. And, when creative intuition is calling, she encourages other women to take that leap of faith, too.
“We aren’t necessarily encouraged to have that entrepreneurial spirit that a lot of men have. If you’re even considering it, you already have the acumen that you need to be excellent in whatever services your business will be offering,” Duckett says. “The difference is, to be somebody who does it, you have to believe in yourself and have that confidence.”
Senita Brooks is a contributor for Empower Onyx, a diverse multi-channel platform celebrating the stories and transformative power of sports for Black women and girls.
