Per a press release by the company, Independent Sports & Entertainment (ISE) has announced that two-term Mayor of Sacramento and former NBA All-Star, Kevin Johnson will begin working with ISE on corporate vision and strategy, serving as a vice chairman. Johnson will work on corporate manners and be available to current and prospective ISE clients for contract negotiation and career development counsel.
In a somewhat surprising move, the agency has also fired top NBA agent Dan Fegan, who served as ISE’s president of basketball. Fegan has represented a long list of NBA players, but endured a tumultuous past couple of years, starting with the Dwight Howard trade drama in 2015. Howard wasn’t the only big man represented by Fegan in the news, as DeAndre Jordan also had his share of free agent issues in 2015. After initially committing to sign with the Dallas Mavericks, LA Clippers players and Doc Rivers barricaded themselves inside Jordan’s home after hearing he was second guessing his decision. Notably absent in this meeting was Fegan, Jordan’s agent. A short two months later after the dust had settled, Jordan parted ways with Fegan.
From there, the dominos started to fall as big name players John Wall and the aforementioned Dwight Howard soon followed suit. At ISE, Chief Marketing Officer Chris Grancio will assume the role of interim president of ISE Basketball. It was reported by SAB’s own Darren Heitner, that ISE is in the process of either hiring a new basketball agent or acquiring an agency with a basketball division. The press release confirms this, as it mentions that ISE remains firmly committed to basketball. Heitner also reported that ISE will file a lawsuit against Fegan for a breach of his agreements. It is not yet clear what will happen to Fegan’s clients.