What can an agent do for me?
A sports agent represents an athlete and helps identify, pursue, and negotiate jobs and endorsement deals. As your career grows, you may experience greater demands on your time. More competitions, media appearances, speaking engagements and travel requirements can leave you with less time to develop and maintain your skills on-the-court.
An agent can help you manage your time, allowing you more time to focus on playing the game by:
Understanding your value in the basketball market and negotiate with team management to pay you what you are worth
Understanding your needs and goals to negotiate the length of your contract, salary and extra incentives that may be available to you
Identifying, pursuing, and securing additional sources of income through endorsements, appearances, speaking events, etc.
Use different representatives for different parts of your personal and professional affairs, such as looking for legal and/or financial counselling. Placing complete trust and authority in one person to handle all your matters may sound convenient. However, if something were to go wrong or the trust was breached between you and your agent, it would be better if that breach only affected one aspect of your career instead of all aspects of it.
Therefore, use a separate lawyer to plan your estate and a separate financial advisor to manage your money and investments.
Do I need an agent?
If your career is not at a level where sponsorship deals and complex contract negotiations are interfering with your performance, then you may not want to make the financial investment of an agent’s services.
To help identify your needs, ask yourself the following questions – if you answer yes to all or most of them, then working with an agent may be a good choice:
Could I use help negotiating my contract/salary with my current team (or am I looking for a new team)?
Do off-court commitments (e.g. public appearances, travel, etc.) put demands on my time for training, practice, and developing my on-court performance?
Do I have (or am I looking to gain) sponsorship agreements?
Do I have an interest in additional sources of income related to my career (e.g. endorsements, speaking tours, etc.)?
Is my career at a level where I need help managing all the details that come with making more money, having more opportunities, and being contacted for various off-court engagements?
Agent's must haves
While an agent can help take your mind off the administrative and logistical details of life off-the-court, you don’t want to surrender all control to your agent. Remember, you are in charge of your career and you are ultimately responsible for overseeing your “business” as an athlete.
Selecting an agent will depend on your needs as an athlete and your personal preferences for the player-agent relationship. However, there are some universal details that any athlete should require of his or her agent.
An agent must have:
Certification from FIBA to work in international basketball as an agent
There is a formal application and testing process for all agents in FIBA. Information about the certification process can be found here. A list of all certified FIBA agents can be found here.
A solid understanding of basketball and the professional market
It’s important that your agent can adequately measure your worth, know “who’s who” when pursuing new job opportunities for you and understands the demands of your schedule (practice, training, travel, etc.).
A reputation for honesty, reliability and professionalism
Many sports organisations and countries do not require any official credential, license, or minimum level of education to work as a sports agent. FIBA’s agent certification process screens agents for any criminal background or adverse litigation. However, it is still a good idea to ask your teammates, coaches, and basketball veterans for their opinion about a prospective agent.
To make sure your agent has these must haves, you can:
Consult your national federation, your coach, teammates, and other basketball professionals to see what other people you trust think of particular agents.
Conduct an internet search and/or background check on a prospective agent and confirm with FIBA to see if any legal action has been taken against him or her by sending an email to: agents@fiba.basketball.
Ask prospective agents to supply you with proof of educational degrees, credentials or licenses that may be relevant to the business and legal aspects of contract negotiation, athlete management, etc.
Large vs small agencies
Additional points to consider include whether you want your agent to be part of a large agency, or if you prefer a more personal, one-on-one approach from a small agency. There are pros and cons for each option.
Large agency
Pros
Extensive network of contacts that can promote potential opportunities with various teams, leagues, and potential sponsors
Additional in-house services, including legal representation, financial management, travel assistance, and estate planning
Cons
Large agencies may charge larger representation fees
Agents may have other high-profile clients competing for their time
Smaller agency
Pros
Your agent will be able to offer more personalised representation and devote more time to you
Your agent will get to know you more closely, thereby creating more trust in the player-agent relationship
Cons
Lesser-known agents may lack the experience and proven performance needed to navigate the basketball world at the highest levels
Depending on the number of clients, he/she might still be limited in his/her time for you
Signing an agent agreement
Once you have determined what type of representation you need and which agent can best provide those services, it is important to clearly establish the terms of the player-agent relationship. Consider these points when finalising an agreement with an agent:
Be very clear about your goals for your career. Make sure your agent shares them and is ready (and qualified) to help you achieve them.
Require your agent to disclose all his/her current and previous professional relationships. There may be conflicts of interest, and you need to determine if you are comfortable with those potential conflicts.
Create a written contract that both you and the agent will sign. The contract should clearly state the following criteria: length of agreement, payment structure, expectations of both parties, scope of agent’s duties, process for terminating the contract, etc. (refer to FIBA’s Standard Contract as a guide)
Refer to FIBA’s “Suggested points between Club & Player” document to see a list of points that FIBA encourages you to address when developing a contract with a club.
Refer to the clauses from the Basketball Arbitral Tribunal (BAT) that pertain to player – agent – club relationships to understand important agent-club related considerations before signing a final agreement. Make sure to insert the BAT dispute resolution clause in all your contracts.
Consider consulting a lawyer to go over (or draft) the terms of the contract before you sign anything. This will give you peace of mind and allow you to clarify or revise any unclear or unacceptable terms before an agreement is signed.
Translate the contract if it is not written in your primary language. Ask that it be translated by a trusted source to ensure you fully understand the terms of the contract.
Include in the contract an annual or semi-annual review of your finances if you have entrusted your agent to handle all off-court matters. Get this review done by an independent auditor. This will keep your agent accountable for his or her management of your finances, as well as provide you with greater peace of mind.
Before signing, take your time and remember that this decision will have a significant impact on your career. Don’t feel pressured to commit to anything with which you are not entirely comfortable.
Securing an agent
Below is a checklist you can use to walk through the process of signing an agent. If you already have an agent, portions of this checklist may still be helpful for reviewing and/or strengthening certain aspects of your relationship with your current agent. If you do not already have an agent, first determine if your current level of play in basketball requires you to have one.
Choosing an agent
Determine what kind of representation you want: large vs. small agency
Consult FIBA’s list of certified FIBA Agents and ask your national federation, coaches and trusted colleagues about the reputation of prospective agents.
Conduct a background search on agents you are interested in working with and verify all educational degrees, credentials and/or licenses of prospective agents.
Making an agreement:
Require your agent to disclose all previous professional relationships to identify any conflicts of interest.
Create a written contract detailing the terms of the agreement between you and the agent (e.g. length of agreement, payment structure, scope of agent’s role, process for terminating the contract, etc.). If an agent is going to handle your finances, consider using an independent auditor to conduct regular audits of your accounts.
Before signing anything, review the contract with an outside lawyer and, if necessary, have the contract translated into your native language to ensure you understand the terms and obligations.