New York Knicks center Nerlens Noel's lawsuit against his former agent Rich Paul, has turned into something much bigger. The Athletic writer Mike Vorkunov reported that not only is Noel going after his former agent, but the National Basketball Players Association as well.
Nerlens Noel initially sued Rich Paul over the summer, trying to recover some of the money he deems he lost by misrepresentation from his agent. But that is not where this all started.
Late last year, Paul filed a lawsuit against Noel. He claimed that he did not receive his four percent of one-year, $5 million deal Noel signed with the Knicks. He then dropped Noel as a client this year.
Noel responded taking issue to the NBPA, which appointed an arbitrator. Things have since moved to the federal courts in the state of Texas, where it now stands.
However, Noel's legal representation contends that a federal judge has the ability to rule on the lawsuit. That would take it out of the hands of the NBA arbitrator, despite a mandate in written player agent standard contracts.
The NBPA has since come out and stood with Paul on the matter. “Ron Klempner, senior counsel for the union, filed a declaration in support of Paul’s motion to dismiss, saying that the NBPA’s arbitration process was the mandatory and sole place to settle this disagreement.”
Even though this is not the first time there has been an instance like this involving the NBPA and a player, it is still relatively unprecedented.
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