From Batman’s Robin To Full Fledged Sports Agent

In the world of sports, B.J. Armstrong is not just known as a former sick complement player for the Michael Jordan led Chicago Bulls, nor as merely a mediocre analyst for ESPN. He has also made his way into the sports agent world, without the notice of many media entities. SLAM ONLINE recently talked to Armstrong, and spent a good amount of space covering his entry into this business by signing with Wasserman Media Group. If the length of the article scares you, here is my favorite question and answer combo from the interview:

Michael Tillery: Hypothetically, I’m 19-22, entering your office and looking to retain your services. What are you going to get across so I know I’m doing the right thing by signing with B.J. Armstrong?

BJ Armstrong: I’m here to listen to what you have to say. I’m not here to tell you about what I did or what it’s going to take to be a pro, I’m here to listen to what it is you want to do. I’ve done my thing. I’ve seen the so called best player in Michael Jordan. I give you no illusions to what this is really all about. There is no fantasy of “Come with me, I’m going to get you drafted” or “Come with me I’m going to do this or that.” My work starts when it gets rough. When you are up by twenty, everybody looks good. My game starts when a kid gets hurt or in a crisis type situation. That’s what I do. I’m not here to sell you a bag of goods. Telling you look how many players we’ve gotten drafted. People that get drafted in lotteries, that’s a blessing. I’m here to ask you what is it you want to do. Let’s get organized and execute the plan. If you don’t want to execute, then I’m not the person to deal with. I’m not much of a talker about selling points of what I can do for you. We know what we can do. We are going to work hard at it. It’s about attracting people with that same mentality. They are going to work hard and maximize their talents at this particular time in their life. I want people who want to be the best at what they do. I don’t want anyone telling me something illogical. I want people to give me information that is prevalent with logic and people that will work hard. We are going to stick by our clients 1000% no matter if they are the first pick in the draft or someone undrafted. It’s about integrity and excellence. We are going to do both. I get to the core of things. This is a very simple operation. We are going to go at it and we are going hard after it.