Journeyman center Olden Polynice was nearing the end of a productive 15-year NBA career during his short stint with the Utah Jazz. Serving in the team’s starting frontcourt alongside Karl Malone, Polynice had proven he could still produce at age 36. But at this stage of his career, he had just two goals: playing for the Los Angeles Lakers and winning a championship.
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After a second-straight season of solid center play for the Jazz, Polynice had a $3.2 million player option to mull over. While he obviously wanted the money, his tune changed when his former agent, Dwight Manley, informed him that he had a done deal for him to go to the Lakers. All Polynice had to do was decline his option.
Overjoyed at the idea of joining Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal in LA, Polynice quickly turned down the option with Utah. Manley did say that he had talked to general manager Mitch Kupchak and finalized a deal, after all. But the phone call from his agent turned out too good to be true. Manley had ulterior motives for coaxing Polynice to decline his option.
“Okay, great, declined the option. Friday comes, Saturday comes, Sunday come, Monday come, keep going,” Polynice said on Byron Scott’s Fast Break. “Ain’t no call from Mitch Kupchak … [Manley] never spoke to Mitch. I’m livid.”
Manley was both a prominent and unique agent in the NBA at the time because he represented four players from the same team, all in Utah’s starting lineup: Byron Russell, Donyell Marshall, Polynice and Malone. Polynice didn’t expect Manley to put one client over another, though.
“I’m blowing up [Manley’s] cell phone, calling the office, calling his cell phone, nothing, nothing, nothing,” Polynice continued. “So finally, I got in touch with the secretary. She goes, ‘Oh yeah, he’s at the dentist’s office, and I’ll make sure he gets in touch with you as soon as possible.'”
Agent stiffed Polynice to favor Karl Malone
“I go back, blow up his phone, rings the first time, hangs up. And I redial right away and for some reason it answered.”
But Polynice quickly realized that his agent wasn’t at the dentist’s office he was out playing golf.
“All I hear is, ‘Next on the number one tee.’ He’s on the golf course while I’m sitting here [crying].” Initially, the former big man just thought he wasn’t as much of a priority as his agent’s other clients, but the situation proved much more sinister.
“So what I found out was this. Karl Malone had an $18 million deal on the table … But they needed me off the books,” Polynice explained. “So he duped me to get the percentage of the $18 million. So I got effed over because of that.” The 60-year-old originally wanted to strangle his agent but instead let karma do its thing.
Karl Malone was able to get his extra $3 million, but injuries would soon destabilize his career. After enjoying one of the healthiest careers of any player in NBA history, the Hall of Famer’s health took a turn for the worse once he joined the Lakers. Malone did make the 2004 Finals but wasn’t able to contribute much as LA was manhandled by Detroit.
So, in Polynice’s eyes, everything balanced out.
