Categories
Agent Spotlights Headline NBA Players Sports Agents

Agent Spotlight: Michael Lelchitski

Last week we posted our 2011 NBA Draft Listing Of Players Selected And Their Agents.  While the list includes the standard NBA agent names like Arn Tellem, Bill Duffy, Rob Pelinka, Happy Walters, Leon Rose, etc. it also has some lesser known people on it.  One of them, Austin Walton, was featured in a recent Sports Agent Blog interview.  Today, we focus on another agent – Michael Lelchitski – who had his first client drafted into the NBA.  Lelchitski’s drafted client is Ater Majok, who was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the third-to-last pick in the 2nd round of the 2011 NBA Draft.  Interestingly, the Lakers are also the team that picked Walton’s client.

Michael Lelchitski works for Sports International Group, Inc., which is also known as SIG.  The family company, based in Gaithersburg, MD, was founded by Michael’s father Boris Lelchitski in 1996 with a primary focus of representing professional female basketball players.  Today, SIG is one of the top agencies in women’s basketball, representing over 40 players in the WNBA (which amounts to roughly 30% of the league).  Prior to starting SIG, Boris was the head coach of Euroleague powerhouse Spartak in Russia.

Michael’s title at SIG is Men’s Basketball Executive Director.  He and his father launched SIG’s Men’s Basketball division in 2008 and have largely focused on recruiting and placing players in Russia, Ukraine and all the countries of the former Soviet Union.  Michael is currently the only Russian-American agent licensed with the NBPA.

SIG hopes that Ater Majok’s selection by the Lakers will be the start of a successful group of NBA clients for the company.  However, SIG wants to remain as a boutique agency in men’s basketball and not outgrow itself.

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.