A little over a week ago, I considered whether Lon Babby was looking for a new job. The write-up suggested that Babby was a contender for an open President of Basketball Operations position with the Phoenix Suns after Steve Kerr vacated the spot. Another name in the running was also a former sports agent – Jason Levien – who may still get his chance to run a team in the GM/President position before the start of next season. Levien was the Assistant GM of the Sacramento Kings until he quit that job not long ago.
Yesterday, Babby officially accepted the Suns offer. Among his duties will be the hiring of a new GM. Levien and Babby were both sports agents, focused in the area of basketball, and worked for major law firms at one point (Levien – Greenberg Traurig, Babby – Williams & Connolley).
What may be most interesting to follow is who sucks up the vacuum left behind by Babby. It is likely that Babby’s former partner, Jim Tanner, will continue to represent many clients already seeking the services of Williams & Connolley. Their selling point was always that they only charge players based on the amount of time they spend on negotiating their deals, much like a traditional attorney would charge a client. Thus, the athletes already using their services might stay with Williams & Connelley based on the fee structure, alone. That said, Babby is leaving some big named clients like Ray Allen, Tim Duncan, and Hedo Turkoglu.
