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Why Did Jason Thompson Pick Andre Buck?

jason thompson

Want to know what it takes to land a professional athlete client?  I am not the person you should be asking.  The best practices for recruiting professional athletes can be found straight from the mouths of those who have made that very tough decision…the decision of picking a sports agent for representation.  No one knows better about what it takes to have them sign their name on a Uniform Player Contract with yours attached as the certified representative.

Jason Thompson of the Sacramento Kings is going into his second year in the NBA.  Before embarking on his journey from tryout to tryout and eventually being selected by the Kings, Thompson had to make a choice about representation.  He went with Andre Buck of Creative Artists Agency, and is still with Buck today.  Sure, Thompson has not been with Buck for all that long, but in today’s landscape of players switching agents by the day, credit has to be given to any agent who can hold onto a client for any considerable length of time.

Thompson recently talked about what he was looking for in an agent and why Andre was the right person for him.

“Nowadays, guys usually go with agents just because of their name, and they don’t have a real relationship with them,” Thompson said. “For the younger guys, they say, ‘Go with an agent you’re comfortable with, feel comfortable around, feel supported by, get along with and make sure they’re on the same page (as you).

Relationships are key, but as Jason admits later in the interview, many young athletes look over this important aspect and instead sign an agent or agency based on name recognition alone.  This can be a big mistake.  Sure, agents get a “name” by representing high profile athletes and often because of something extraordinarily good they have done for their clients, but that does not necessarily mean that the person is right for every athlete.

“My agent, Andre Buck, is really supportive, and Leon Rose with CAA (Creative Artists Agency) Sports really helped me out on scheduling the workouts because, obviously, you can’t plan them last minute. So everything was planned, but once I started doing well additional workouts were planned.”

Thompson and Buck were together before the workouts, before the NBA draft, before any negotiations with the Kings commenced.  A basketball player needs to have that level of comfort with an agent so that he can contact the agent every hour during those stressful workouts if need be.  Kudos to Buck and Thompson for forging a successful relationship that hopefully will last for their lives.  Every week we hear about athletes changing agents.  If athletes took Thompson’s advice, perhaps we would see a decline in that type of news.

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.

2 replies on “Why Did Jason Thompson Pick Andre Buck?”

Hilarious. Most potential NBA players sign with agents based on who paid them, their aau coach or someone in their inner circle. Not all of them, but most of them.

Agree with Nate on this one. It's covered quite often (most notably by Yahoo! Sports), the ways that basketball players are funneled by AAU coaches to certain college programs and then certain agents. Jason Thompson came up a bit outside of all of that. There wasn't as much hype surrounding him. He went to Rider. He's not really "associated" with any pipeline (like the other guys). That's what gave him the ability to sign with the "best fit."

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