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On To The Next One: Leandro Barbosa

Toronto Raptors point guard Leandro Barbosa is on to his third agent.  He was represented by Bill Duffy of BDA Sports prior to moving on to Jeff Schwartz and Sam Goldfeder of Excel Sports Management.  Recently, he switched from Excel to Dan Fegan of Lagardère Unlimited.

Back in 2007, Duffy said, “I think what makes Leandro so endearing is he’s so nice and innocent, he’s kind of awestruck by all the attention he garners.”  It appears that since 2007, Barbosa has become quite comfortable with the attention and has spread the chore of handling said attention to a variety of agents.  Excel has no shortage of foreign clients playing in the NBA and United States-born players performing overseas; however, Fegan may be cornering the Brazilian market.

Fegan’s Brazilian clients include Nene and Anderson Varejao.  Add Barbosa to that list and Fegan represents three of the four Brazilian-born players currently active in the NBA.  The only other NBA active Brazilian-born player is Tiago Splitter, who is represented by Herb Rudoy.  However, Fegan also represents other Brazilian basketball players, including Lucas Nogueira, Raul Neto, and Augusto Cesar Lima.  Could Splitter be the last Brazilian piece to fall to Fegan or will Rudoy keep his grasp on the sole Brazilian NBA player who has yet to become a part of team Lagardère Unlimited?

By Darren Heitner

Darren Heitner created Sports Agent Blog as a New Year's Resolution on December 31, 2005. Originally titled, "I Want To Be A Sports Agent," the website was founded with the intention of causing Heitner to learn more about the profession that he wanted to join, meet reputable individuals in the space and force himself to stay on top of the latest news and trends.

Heitner now runs Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., which is a law firm with many practice areas, including sports law and contract law. Heitner has represented numerous athletes and sports agents as legal counsel. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington from 2011-2014, where he created and taught a course titled, Sport Agency Management, which included subjects ranging from NCAA regulations to athlete agent certification and the rules governing the profession. Heitner serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he teaches a Sports Law class that includes case law surrounding athlete agents and the NCAA rules.