“Give me Allen Iverson coming out of Georgetown and he’s a billion-dollar athlete today”: LeBron James’ agent Rich Paul makes outrageous claim about marketing the Sixers legend

Allen Iverson was probably one of the most popular athletes in the USA in the early 2000s. Rich Paul claims he could have leveraged that better.

The Sixers legend was the no. 1 pick in the NBA draft. He changed NBA players’ perception by staying true to his roots in terms of fashion. Iverson was the peak intersection point between rap culture and the league.

He led an average Sixers team to the NBA Finals in 2001. Iverson’s 48-point outing in Game 1 led to the Lakers’ only defeat in what was otherwise a perfect playoff run.

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Allen Iverson also had possibly the most vicious crossover of all time. AI broke many ankles through his 14 years in the NBA with his 5’11” frame and unreal lateral speed.

The Sixers star was also Reebok’s signature athlete at the time. AI’s shoe line was the bestselling basketball shoe after Jordan Brand for a few years, and with good reason. But Rich Paul believes he could have done a lot better if he’d represented Allen Iverson.

Rich Paul claims he could have made Allen Iverson a billion-dollar athlete by now

Paul has represented LeBron in various capacities for 15 years now. He’s responsible for several of James’s biggest endorsement deals. He was the primary negotiator for James’s billion-dollar lifetime deal with Nike.

Rich Paul is bullish about the prospect of representing a prime AI:

“Give me Allen Iverson leaving Georgetown, coming into the league. And today he would have a billion dollars.”

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While Paul has mainly highlighted the positives of being associated with Iverson, he was never a winner like Michael Jordan or LeBron James. This lack of success would significantly hamper his marketability, although his core appeal would still be the same.