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Agent Spotlight: Andre Buck

Renaldo BalkmanI am back from Biloxi, Mississippi, and short a few dollars. Oh well, back to the world of blogging for pennies! Here is an Agent Spotlight:

Andre Buck played basketball at the University of Delaware, where he majored in finance. He also received a law degree from Widener. He first got his chance at being a basketball agent when he joined up with Leon Rose. Some say that Leon Rose is a name that we are now familiar with due to William Wesley [NBA Draft Day Links]. No matter how Leon rose (pun intended) to his current status, Buck was not going to miss the train. Sticking alongside Rose, Andre Buck went from representing overseas players to getting his name called in SportsAgentBlog.com’s 2007 NBA Sports Agent Draft. This year, Buck had 2 players selected in the draft (Aaron Brooks and Chris Richard), and I congratulate him on his rise to becoming a prominent NBA agent.

Buck’s first NBA client is shown to the right. His name is Renaldo Balkman, and is a man that made a lot of Knicks fans continue to wonder about Isiah Thomas’ foundations. Everybody thought that Balkman would still be available in the 2nd round, and most were shocked that the Knicks selected him with the 20th pick overall. The move made many people wonder how the hell something like that could happen. Andre Buck was also shocked:

“I missed the call from the Knicks that they were going to take him,” Buck said. “It was sprung on me. I didn’t know ahead of time, like the rest of the agents did when their clients were selected. I found out when everyone else found out.” [CR grad thriving as sports agent]

Andre Buck has moved on from that moment and has not looked back. When Buck started representing players in 1997, he never could have imagined that he would someday be working for one of the largest entertainment agencies in the world. That entertainment agency has recently expanded into sports and has acquired some of the biggest names in professional sports representation. One of those names is Andre Buck, who is now an agent at CAA (Creative Artists Agency).

-Darren Heitner

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.

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