[MUSIC] Welcome back. We've all ready introduced you to this next module with my good friend, life long friend Fred Nance. Welcome Fred, great to have you here. >> Great to be here Peter. >> Thanks for being with us. >> My pleasure. >> So as advertised, the four stages of the professional athletes career, including the preprofessional days, you've been working with and representing Lebron James since he was at Saint Vincent-Saint Mary High School. Again, not violating any privilege, a lot of it has been public. When was the first time you came to represent Lebron? What was the situation and what was the result, Fred? >> Interesting. I remember it well. I was asked by someone to meet a kid in high school who needed a lawyer. [LAUGH] Which of course I thought here's another pro bono project, and the truth is I didn't know who he was. It was December 30th of 2002. I went down to Columbus to see him play in one of those special games they were it was St. Vincent-St. Mary's team was. Selling out large venues, it was a shocked scene. And it was actually LeBron's mom Gloria, who knew that he was going to need a lawyer who listened to a friend of hers that recommended me and that's how we got introduced. And it was before there was any specific matter to be addressed. There she was, as in Gloria at that point. Now LeBron was just about to turn 18, putting his team together. And that's how it started. >> That's awesome. And of course, she had been working with the city and the Browns, and you're a sports attorney of great renown. So, but then, fast forward only a little bit, he needs your legal help pretty quickly thereafter, pretty soon thereafter. >> Yeah, it was actually within a matter of weeks. You may recall that there was an issue with a vehicle, a hummer that LeBron's mom gave to LeBron as a present, before he turned professional she wanted to give him something she knew he would really enjoy, and the Ohio High School athletic Association investigated it. They were concerned that it was an improper gratuity from an agent or someone trying to curry favor with Lebron, and we were able to establish that actually, Gloria herself had signed the promissory note and that there is no prohibition of course against a parent giving a child a gift even when that gift is, apparently beyond their financial means to do so. So we got that resolved and it was within a matter of a couple of weeks there was a separate incident. There was a store, a sports memorabilia store in Cleveland. Where the owner of the store gave LeBron a couple of throw back jerseys in recognition of LeBron being a good student, a good kid. Obviously LeBron was at that time very popular. And when that happened on the heels of the hummer incident, the Ohio High School Athletic Association acted very quickly to suspend him for the balance of the season at the time. Of course, Saint Vincent-Saint Mary's was pursuing a state championship, to sort of put the cherry on top of the cake for his high school career. And we ended up, going to court and seeking and obtaining an injunction, reinstating him after he sat out a game. >> Two for two. >> Thanks. >> Way to go. So here we go, now the agent selection process, obviously the one at Dunroll wasn't in place, you could go to the pros, right out of high school as he did and one of the last great ones to have done it. For the change in the roles, take us through as the personal attorney for the family, Fred. I know it's down and dirty so be careful. I know our audience will be very interested to hear in the vetting process. The ultimate selection of the first agent. How did that proceed? >> Well, again LeBron had a preexisting close circle of friends his family obviously his high school coach, and there were there was a very competitive process, as you might imagine. >> [LAUGH]. >> And, I would say that ultimately it was the time that LeBron really asserted himself for the first time as being in charge of his own destiny. And it was the decision that he made, he obviously had a variety of choices, it's one where he had a personal rapport that made him comfortable. And so he made that selection himself. >> Wow. And again, now we do fast forward. Now it's Rich Paul technically. Right? How is that transition? Go fast forward to the current situation? >> Well we're covering a lot of ground here but to put it succinctly what happened is, as you may know Lebron's second agent ended up selling his practice to CAA and heading up the basketball division for CAA. Took Lebron with him to CAA. And at the time, Rich Paul also went to work for CAA in connection with the representation of LeBron. And Rich decided he was going to break off on his own, that he was ready to do his own thing, and when Rich said I'm not going to work for CAA anymore, I'm going to open up my own agency. LeBron said, well I'm coming with you. Nice first client there [LAUGH] [CROSSTALK]. >> [LAUGH] All right. >> Absolutely. >> Right. Well, let's go back to the first agent selection process, and then, his glory years here with Cleveland. And you're doing a lot of important legal work for him. But now here's the posse, the LRMR group. How does that come to life? And what is it doing for him during those early formative years, he's 19, 20, 21. >> Yeah. I will say that, prior to the switch from the first agent to the second agent, there wasn't a lot that LRMR as an entity was doing. Certainly Maverick Carter. Who is got a close personal relationship with LeBron, and was learning the business himself, was a consistent influence throughout that period of time, but as LeBron within a matter of less than two years, moved away from the first agent and hired a new agent. And started working with established, he started working with LRMR, it has been a constant influence in his business dealings ever since that point in time. LRMR is involved in helping to secure opportunities for King James Inc. >> Mm-hm. [LAUGH] >> Which of course is the corporate entity that holds most of Lebron's endorsement contracts. Many of his other partnerships, so LRMR would find opportunities for KJI, and they worked collaboratively. And LRMR's impact both on LeBron and otherwise in the marketplace has just continued to grow as LeBron's brand and celebrity has grown to the point that I don't want to jump too far in- >> No, no. >> In chronology, but- >> Please do. >> As many of our, our viewers or listeners are aware, to the point that, they have now partnered with the same entity that, owns the Boston Red Sox as well as >> Liverpool. >> Yeah, Liverpool, football club. One of the most famous English Premier League football clubs in the country. So the Fenway Sports Group owns a piece of LRMR, and LRMR and derivatively LeBron and Maverick, therefore derivatively own a piece of Fenway Sports Group, Boston Red Sox, the Liverpool Football club, which has created all sorts of global opportunities for them and the the Fenway group continues to bring opportunities to Lebron from all over the world. I mean, at this point, it is about being selective and not a matter of looking for opportunities but being selective about the ones that are there. To make sure that they're consistent with LeBron's brand, that they are true to him, that they appeal to him on a personal level. But that they're also one of the primary components of their criteria, of evaluating whether they want to be involved in opportunities is the longevity of the relationship. Is it something that is going to carry on and create mutual opportunities not only while Lebron's on the court but while he is off the court as well. You may be aware that for a number of years, LeBron and Maverick, and Ellen Marr, LRMR, would bring together all of their partners from different industries, all of their endorsement partners from different industries for a conference on an annual basis to talk, discuss the brand, to talk about ways to collaborate, to consistently build this sustainable model for the long term. And that's just one of the ways in which their approach to the market has been unique. And I'd say a trend setter for what a celebrity or superstar athlete can use his or her celebrity to put together. >> We want to talk about that merger, if you will, LRMR and Fenway and how it's worked so beautifully, but I think it was prior to that time when LRMR was exclusively representing LeBron that the first decision was made to go to Miami. >> Yes. >> If my memory's right on that. So, again, as a fan like both of us are, and an adviser as you are, what did you make of that decision to go to Miami, and how it was played out? >> Well I'm going to be a little lawyerly on you, Pete, and say it depends upon what you mean by that decision. Literally the decision to switch teams was driven by one thing, a desire to win championships. And like virtually every other player in that position, LeBron made the judgment, in consultation with some people very close to him, that his best opportunity to be successful at that point in time was in Miami and to play with the people that obviously he was very close to there and particularly Dewayne Wade and Chris Bosh. To the extent you're asking me about how it was rolled out. I think there is almost no one in America >> [LAUGH]. >> who would disagree with the notion that that was not done very well and that it should have taken place in a different fashion. But we all know how that story ended, and that both LeBron and Dan Gilbert, man to man, sat down and talked through what happened, the mistakes that they acknowledged they both made and how they could take that as LeBron put it, that one moment in time over the course of a long positive relationship. Say it happened, we're sorry it happen that way, we're going to set that over here. Let's look to the future and what we can do together. So bottom line, he had every right to do what he did. We would all do it a little differently [LAUGH] if we had it to do over. In terms of how he implemented it. >> Now he wins the two world championships. The letter that he wrote about the return, quintessential stuff. You probably helped write it. But anyways it's beautifully written and I think it was his heart and his head that wrote that beautiful return. Knowing him from highschool days, Fred. What were the main factors as you analyze it for his return to Cleveland which is, the brand is now off the charts if it wasn't before. >> Yeah, it is what you see. Meaning, as mentioned in the Sports Illustrated piece, LeBron said I never got to go to college. You know my four years in Miami are akin to what the four years growing up many other people have the opportunity they have, when they go away to school and, you know, I enjoyed it, I had my fun, I won two championships. >> Yeah. >> But as I think about my longevity, I think about my legacy, I think about my family. >> Mm-hm. >> Let's remember, his family's continuing to grow during this time period. He has three children now, and the time, he knew that, he thought that northeast Ohio was a better place to raise a young family than in south Florida. He is also, he never forgot about Northeast Ohio. He never turned his back, despite the understandable fuhrer and the jersey burning and all that. I'll tell you one thing that I think says it all. Obviously for tax purposes, if you relocate your primary place of residence your legal residents to Florida, you don't pay a state income tax. For LeBron, that's a lot of money. When his accountant told him you need to relocate to Florida, he said no. I don't care about the money. Akron is my home. That says a lot, that in addition to the continuing to not only operate but upgrade his foundation and to keep his roots here and to keep his connections here ultimately led him to conclude, I thought this would come later in my career. He thought he would end his career later, but circumstances combined to make it an opportune time to do it now, and I think the statements he's made about being a leader off the court, in the community, as northeast Ohio is going through this obvious renaissance that we're undergoing. He saw that combined with the opportunity to play with a very strong team that the Cavaliers had put together. And the Cavaliers had been fortunate enough to get the draft picks and let them make the trades to assemble this team, and it all just fit together. But I, again he's got that long range view. He's not only thinking about success on the court. He's thinking about life outside of basketball now, life outside of basketball after he's done with basketball. And I think the community welcoming him with open arms has really inspired him even more to want to accomplish things both on and off the court as sort of the culmination of at least the basketball side of his career. And I'll say this too, it's really interesting that the dynamic of him being a villain, if you will, because he took his talents to South Beach. You know, the self indulgent young guy wants to go play in South. That dynamic is not only dissipated, it's been completely reversed because of the feel around the country that the prodigal son has come home and we all want to see this end the way we hope it should end, which is bringing a championship to Cleveland. So the motivation was right, the timing was right, and circumstances that actually fell in place to make it feel like this is the way it was supposed to be. >> Take us through the Nike commercial, the return commercial, which still brings chills to my spine as a native Clevelander. >> Yeah, it's really something, because what it embodies is the notion of a community that has had some rough times. That has had to remake itself, that is very diverse. It's got people of all kinds of backgrounds, all races, all religions. And they have been struggling to pull things together. And then centered around being a fan of a professional sports team. But above and beyond that, being a part of a community that's pulling together to pull itself up from the struggles that it has been involved in. The commercial really communicates that sense that people are coming from all directions to be a part of this and that LeBron and his team are going to lead community to do something together that they've never accomplished before and everybody's invested in it, everybody's buying in and it's really part of the heartbeat that's making this community feel like a special place right now. And it has resonated all over the place. The national media were all over Cleveland, for the first game of LeBron's return. There're many of those stories have not been published yet. There's going to be an evolving process of talking about Cleveland as a comeback city, the role that sports generally and LeBron are going to play in that process. And again it's a very positive sort of uplifting traditional American story of folks who've had a hard way to go and been down on their luck, turning it around and doing it together in such a high profile way. [SOUND]
