Tag: David Falk

Legendary NBA agent David Falk on the state of free agency today

Not so crazy about modern free agency? Falk isn’t either.

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They don’t make NBA free agency like they used to — at least that is what one of the greatest agents in the sport’s history believes.

Legendary agent David Falk used to represent Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing. In a recent interview with GQ’s Howard Beck, Falk shared how he believes being an agent has become less relevant due to the restrictive nature of the current system and the lack of negotiation opportunities within it.

“I find it sort of a little bit boring,” Falk said of today’s free agency.

“I don’t think free agency is dying,” he explained. “I think that as the rules become more and more restrictive, it’s more and more difficult to be creative.”

Falk took pride in bending the system to benefit his clients, a practice that is no longer really an option.

“It’s one of the reasons why I stopped enjoying being an agent,” he said. “Because the knowledge you have, and the creativity you have, is severely limited by the rules.”

The so-called player empowerment era is not all that great to Falk, either. “You don’t need free agency … because these teams, the minute the guy says `I don’t want to be on the team,’ they accommodate him. I think it’s terrible.”

“It makes it look less professional … In order to make more money as a 50-50 partner, they have to not attack the business, they have to grow the business.”

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AIR: See the cast of Ben Affleck’s new Nike movie compared to real-life counterparts

Ben Affleck nails it as Nike founder Phil Knight.

We’re getting closer to the release date for the upcoming sports movie AIR.

The early reactions are overwhelmingly positive and the Nike biographical sports drama currently has a 100 percent approval rating on the film review website Rotten Tomatoes.

The movie tells the story of Knight and the partnership between Michael Jordan and Nike’s basketball division, which eventually led to the creation of the Air Jordan brand.

RELATED: Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Nike film AIR debuts with a perfect 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes

Ben Affleck, who directs the film, stars as Nike co-founder and former chairman Phil Knight.

Affleck stars alongside Matt Damon (as Sonny Vaccaro), Viola Davis (as Deloris Jordan), Julius Tennon (as James Jordan), Chris Tucker (as Howard White), Jason Bateman (as Rob Strasser), Matthew Maher (as Peter Moore), Chris Messina (as David Falk), and Marlon Wayans (as George Raveling).

Michael Jordan, a character who appears more as a mythic figure than as an actual presence on the screen, specifically required Affleck to cast Davis to portray his mother.

This movie will have its theatrical release in the United States on April 5. Until then, you can watch the trailer to get excited and build anticipation for AIR.

You can also check out our side-by-side comparisons of the actors and all of their real-life counterparts:

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But in the “image is everything” era …

But in the “image is everything” era when Jordan made exponentially more money outside of basketball from endorsements, no one backed it up on the court like Jordan. He created a new world in both sports marketing and sports myth-making. “In tennis or golf or boxing, the mystique is the individual,” Jordan’s agent David Falk said to Henry Louis Gates Jr. in a 1998 New Yorker story. “Whereas no matter how great Bill Russell or Bob Cousy was, it was the Celtics dynasty, it was always institutional. Michael changed all that. Singlehanded.”

The best college prospect in 1985 …

The best college prospect in 1985 wanted to go to the Warriors. The former Georgetown star was huddled with his college coach John Thompson and his agent David Falk for the 1985 NBA Draft lottery, and he was hoping for a specific outcome. “We were all there, watching and waiting and anticipating, you know, hoping that …” Ewing told SiriusXM NBA Radio’s Frank Isola. “First I wanted to go to Golden State because Eric Floyd played there and he was a teammate of mine at Georgetown. And the next one was the Knicks. Once Golden State didn’t win, I definitely wanted to go to the Knicks.”

Nike’s revolutionary entrance into the …

Nike’s revolutionary entrance into the world of basketball came as a splash, but its popularity was greatly aided by the NBA, although unintentionally. David Falk, the longtime agent of Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan, recalled how the league banned the Air Jordan 1 shoe that is now infamously known as “The Banned” edition due to its bold black and red colors: “So they make the first shoe, the black and red one. Michael wears it to practice and the league immediately bans the shoes,” said Falk as a guest on The Business of Sports podcast. “They ban it, they say it doesn’t conform with the team’s uniform colors. And (Rob) Strasser calls me up in a panic and he says, ‘Goddammit. We just paid him all this money, he can’t even freakin’ wear the shoe.’”

According to Checketts, Ewing desired a …

According to Checketts, Ewing desired a relocation to Golden State and his power agent, David Falk, was pulling the strings. Mullin agreed to participate but was apprehensive. “Pollak was basically saying, ‘Look, Mullin is from New York, he doesn’t want to cooperate, he doesn’t want to be the reason Ewing gets to leave New York,” Checketts said in an interview with the Daily News. “But he’s in this tremendous conflict situation. Because if he makes it happen and you have Mullin, Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Patrick Ewing on the Warriors — they’re winning a bunch of titles.”

Other secondary markets have reported …

Other secondary markets have reported similar Jordan spikes. On Sunday, when the fifth episode of the 10-part series tackled the origin of the Air Jordan shoe and its history – Jordan’s agent, David Falk, apparently came up with the iconic name – StockX saw an immediate transaction increase, Einhorn said. “Jordan 1 sales in part took off that day,” he said. “Jordan 1 pages spiked to their highest point in history.”

So many big NBA stars have been linked …

So many big NBA stars have been linked to the New York Knicks. Among many, there is also Michael Jordan. His agent David Falk spoke of this during an interview on SiriusXM NBA Radio, per CBS Sports: “Anything is possible. Michael is an extremely loyal guy. He wanted to play for one team his whole career. He was loved in the city of Chicago, he had tremendous business relationships in the city of Chicago. I think it would have taken something – it would have taken a disaster in the discussion with Chicago for that to happen.

I wouldn’t say it was impossible. We …

I wouldn’t say it was impossible. We obviously had to do our due diligence in the event that a disaster did happen, you don’t want to be unprepared. But I think the chance of him leaving Chicago for any team was unlikely. Now for me, obviously in 1996 representing both Michael and Patrick [Ewing]. If they both could play for the same team on the moon it would’ve been amazing. Michael would’ve given Patrick the championship he craved, you would’ve had the most dominating big man in the league and the most dominating wing player in the league on the same team. It had nothing to do with being in New York, it could have been on the moon.”