In the 2011 NBA Draft, the Chicago Bulls picked Cleveland State’s star guard Norris Cole in the first round, but immediately traded his draft rights to the Minnesota Timberwolves, who dealt him to the Miami Heat. South Beach was the dream landing spot for the point guard, as he bought into the Heat culture, carved out a support role on the star-studded roster, and won two championships in four seasons with the team.
Advertisement
In February 2015, Cole’s stint with the Heat ended after they dealt him to the New Orleans Pelicans in a three-team trade. The guard grabbed the opportunity with both hands and had 18 productive months in Louisiana. With his stock at an all-time high, Cole was expecting to land a role on an NBA roster.
However, no team showed any interest and he was forced to join the Shandong Golden Stars in China to rebuild his reputation. During an appearance on ‘The OGs’ podcast, he explained how the former Pelican trusted his agent for everything, “I learned a hard lesson about the business of basketball… It was my first time in free agency [in 2016]… I had a powerful agent. I let him do everything. All the negotiations. I didn’t even think twice about it.”
Cole added that he suffered due to his agent not doing his job properly which resulted in him losing deals, “He did some bad negotiations, and I caught wind of it late and ended up firing them. And when you fire a powerful agent, of course they are gonna save face and that’s what happened. Tried to make it seem like I was the greedy one, which in reality I wasn’t.”
Without going into details, Cole explained the damage his former agent did to his reputation, which left him with no choice but to accept a two-month deal with the Golden Stars. Unfortunately, the guard picked up a severe injury during his time in China and needed eight weeks of rehab. Cole added that he managed to carve out a comfortable life but lost about $70-80 million in career earnings due to his agent’s vendetta.
He used his experience to warn young players that they shouldn’t let their agents dictate their careers on their own accord. He prompted them to remain vigilant, stay involved in negotiations, and take the final call on the best course of action.
Norris Cole’s journeyman career
After returning from China and completing his rehab, Cole signed a short-term deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder in March 2017. He played 13 games for OKC and averaged 3.3 points and 1.1 assists in 9.6 minutes, per game. That was his final taste of NBA action.
In August 2017, Cole signed a one-year deal with EuroLeague team Maccabi Tel Aviv and helped them win the Israeli League Championship in his only season with the franchise. In August 2018, he left Israel for Italy and signed a one-year deal with Sidigas Avellino. However, they mutually parted ways in December and signed a deal with Montenegro team Budućnost until the end of the 2018-19 season.
Cole then had three consecutive one-year stints with French franchises Monaco and ASVEL Basket, and Spanish team Unicaja Malaga. Since then, he’s had short stints with France’s JL Bourg, G League’s Grand Rapid Golds, Egypt’s Al Ahly, Saudi Arabia’s Ohud Medina, and the NBA G League Ignite.
Cole’s basketball journey has taken him to almost all corners of the globe after his promising NBA career was cut short due to a dispute with his former agent.
