Paul joins LeBron's marketing company
After working for years to lure him away, LeBron James(notes) has finally attracted a star athlete to his LRMR marketing company: New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul(notes).
James and LRMR CEO Maverick Carter have been recruiting Paul for more than two years to join their fledgling marketing company, and the All-Star guard finally informed his agency at Octagon that he had decided to leave.
“He’s left Octagon,” Paul’s agent Jeff Austin told Yahoo! Sports. “We’re proud of the work we did with him over the past five years. We wish him nothing but the best.”
Paul will now join CAA, which represents James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Carmelo Anthony and Tony Parker, after the mandated 15-day moratorium. Leon Rose, James' agent, will also represent Paul.
C.J. Paul, Paul's brother and personal manager, will assist CAA in Paul's marketing endeavors, but they also have hired Carter and LRMR as a consultant.
“It was time for a change,” C.J. Paul said. “Octagon was good for the five years and we have nothing bad to say. But Chris is going in a different direction. We wished them nothing but the best and they wished us nothing but the best.”
James has been using his own reps – Rose and William Wesley – to help shop Chris Paul for trades this offseason, with Wesley telling teams that a key to signing James as a free agent would be cutting a deal for Paul.
Austin and agent Lance Young negotiated Paul a four-year, $68 million max deal with the Hornets. Paul can opt out to become a free agent in 2012. Paul had several national endorsements through Octagon, including Right Guard and Nike Jordan Brand.
Paul had been with James in Akron, Ohio, this week, where the two friends have been working out at James’ national all-star high school basketball camp.
