“It Was from a Survival Perspective”: A Week after Admitting to Playing Spades with Michael Jordan, Rich Paul Reveals How His Father Taught Him Gambling

Rich Paul may be a rich man today, but things weren’t always like that for him. The NBA’s super agent actually came from very humble beginnings, having to fend for himself from a young age. Paul’s father taught him how to gamble at the tender age of 7 to provide him and his siblings with a means of ‘survival’ for when times get tough. LeBron James’ popular agent, on the other hand, made gambling somewhat of a hobby. He even ended up gambling with the likes of Michael Jordan and Tom Brady, way before he was worth $120,000,000.

Paul, who was recently a guest on the Club Shay Shay podcast, discussed how his hard upbringing provided him with lessons he could apply in real life as an agent. The mean streets of Cleveland taught Paul a lot about life and business, giving him an edge even today. Gambling to survive was a hustle for Paul. The mindset of a gambler is something the 41-year-old still takes with him to the negotiation table.

Rich Paul reveals how his father taught him to gamble

Paul grew up in a one-bedroom apartment, which was located just above his father’s shop in Grenville. Grenville was a predominantly black neighborhood in Cleveland, which housed mostly underprivileged families. Paul, who was faced with the reality of being poor at a young age, knew that he had to fend for himself.

Unlike many others in the neighborhood, Paul had his father to guide him through his formative years, even if he couldn’t provide a young Paul with the best of things. The CEO of Klutch Sports recounted one such instance while on Club Shay Shay, telling Shannon Sharpe “The reason why my dad taught me and my siblings how to gamble, shoot dice and play cards. It wasn’t from a gambling perspective. It was from a survival perspective.”

“He said to us, ‘These are the tools, that will allow you to get from here to here. If you get laid off on this job, to get to the next job, you going to need some time, to get by, here are some things that you can do, to get by.’ I turned it into my job because I got infatuated with it,” Paul added.

But gambling has been more than just a hustle for Paul, and more a way of life. He is often negotiating massive deals and has to make risky big-money moves to appease his clients. In these moments, his years of gambling experience has helped him a lot.

Rich even told ET during an interview that, “I was a gambler, my dad taught me how to shoot Dice and play cards when I was very young…He had no idea I would be sitting in the seat I sit in today. But the gambling aspect of it became my job, and so I was born to bet it all.”

Paul gambled with the two GOATs

Tom Brady and Michael Jordan are considered the two GOATs in their respective sports. Though they couldn’t be any different in terms of their personalities, the two of them had something in common, their insane competitive drive. The will to never give up is great in sports, but can also cause problems outside the field/court.

Rich Paul was lucky enough to sit at the table with both of these legends. Paul first played Michael Jordan back in 2002 in Bacara, when he was helping out during one of MJ’s camps. Two years later, during the 2004 All-Star Weekend, Paul found himself at a table with Will Smith, Alex Rodriguez, and seven-time Super Bowl Champion, Tom Brady. The memory stuck with the super agent, as he would go on to recall the incident while on JJ Reddick’s podcast, ‘The Old Man and the Three’.