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Lon Babby Looking For A New Job?

Sports agents are not “stuck” carrying that title for their entire lives.

Case in point = Jason Levien.  Before becoming the Sacramento Kings Assistant General Manager at the end of 2008, Levien represented Kevin Martin in his contractual negotiations with the Kings.  At Levien Sports Representation, he also advised many other basketball players, including Courtney Lee, Udonis Haslem, Luol Deng, Hedo Turkoglu, and Omri Casspi.  Interesting note – Levien decided to leave the Kings a couple of weeks ago after what many believe to be unhappiness regarding his potential to rise up the Kings’ ranks with the contract extension signed by president Geoff Petrie, and Levien may be searching for a new position within the NBA.

Jeff Moorad worked alongside Leigh Steinberg in the 1980s, representing high profile NFL and MLB athletes.  After roughly twenty years of acting as a sports agent, he became General Partner and CEO of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2004.

Mike Kearns also worked with Moorad and Steinberg as the chief of staff for Steinberg & Moorad.  He later became the CEO of PROTRADE, which looks like it is no longer around.

Mike Barnett was an agent with IMG’s hockey division, and had the honor of looking over contracts that read names like Wayne Gretzky, Brett Hull, Jaromir Jagr, Joe Thornton, Sergei Fedorov, Alexander Mogilny, Owen Nolan, Mats Sundin, and Dany Heatley.  He went on to become the General Manager of the Phoenix Coyotes for six years, and he is now Senior Advisor to the President and General Manager and Director of U.S. Amateur Scouting for the New York Rangers.

And we all know how many agents are also attorneys, either doing the sports representation practice on the side, or having a small law practice on the side while managing an agency on a full-time basis.  Lon Babby is one of those hybrids.  He is a Partner at Williams & Connolly (the firm Josh Childress used to use for his representation purposes), but his main focus is on sports law and negotiations.  Babby represents big names like Grant Hill, Ray Allen, Tim Duncan, Shane Battier.  Could he soon be following in Jason Levien’s footsteps, but skip starting as an assistant?

Rumors have been floating, which state that Babby is in the running to take over for former Phoenix Suns General Manager, Steve Kerr.  Interestingly, Jason Levien may also be a potential candidate for the position.  And Levien has a pretty good reference in Joe Maloof, who called the Suns to highly recommend Levien him for the GM job.

By Darren Heitner

Darren Adam Heitner, Esq., is a preeminent sports attorney and the founder of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., a Fort Lauderdale-based law firm specializing in sports law, contract negotiations, intellectual property, and arbitration. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Florida in 2007, where he was named Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Admitted to practice in the state bars of Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia, as well as multiple federal courts, Darren also serves as a certified arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.

As an adjunct professor, Darren imparts his expertise through teaching Sports Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) at the University of Miami School of Law in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law LL.M. program. His scholarly contributions include authoring several books published by the American Bar Association, such as How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, and numerous articles in prominent publications like Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Above the Law. His thought leadership in NIL has earned him recognition as one of the foremost experts by The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, and On3, and he has been lauded as a “power player in NIL deals” by Action Network and a “top sports trademark attorney” by Sportico.

Darren’s passion for sports law led him to establish Sports Agent Blog on December 31, 2005, initially titled “I Want To Be A Sports Agent.” The platform, created as a New Year’s resolution, has grown into a cornerstone of the sports agency community, offering in-depth analysis of industry trends, legal disputes, and agent-player dynamics. His commitment to the field is further evidenced by his representation of numerous athletes and sports agents, as well as his prior role as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, where he developed and taught a course on Sport Agency Management from 2011 to 2014.

Darren’s contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the University of Florida’s 40 Under 40 Award, the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, and designation as the best lawyer in Fort Lauderdale by Fort Lauderdale Magazine. He remains an active voice in the sports law community, sharing insights through his weekly NIL newsletter and his X posts, engaging a broad audience on legal developments in sports.

8 replies on “Lon Babby Looking For A New Job?”

Ok, let me try again.

Headline in 2027: Heitner And His Retired Hall of Fame Baseball Clients (Robinson, Parise, Each Earned $1 Billion+ In Their Career) Lead Ownership Group To Purchase MLB Expansion Franchise In Japan

I love how Babby runs his representation side. The hourly style is much more along the lawyer lines…

Obviously in only works for certain players (mainly responsible types who believe in the “team” approach to representation), but if you are looking for that type of player it works like a dream to me. So he doesnt rake in millions off a guy, but its still great money.

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