NBA Agents Refusing NCAA’s Certification Program

It seems as if many people are having issues with The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) nowadays. ESPN has reported that NBA agents are refusing to submit to NCAA’s recently implemented agent certification program.

The NCAA proposed new rules requiring NBA agents to register for a certification program in order to represent student-athletes without the players losing their eligibility. But NBA agents do not want to agree to that stipulation, arguing that the NCAA should not have regulatory power over who can and can’t represent a student-athlete when agents already have certification from the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA).

This comes on the heels of California recently passing the ‘Pay to Play’ Act for colleges to pay student-athletes. The NCAA is opposed to the legislation, stating that the bill is unconstitutional and would adversely affect competitive balance throughout collegiate athletics. The NCAA recently reversed a rule known as the ‘Rich Paul‘ rule that would require NBA agents to at least have a bachelor’s degree in order to speak to any player who wanted to test the waters in the NBA draft before they graduate college. The rule seemed to target Rich Paul of Klutch Sports Group, who represents LeBron James, Draymond Green, and Anthony Davis, amongst a host of other players, since he doesn’t have a college degree. The since amended rule allows student-athletes to be represented by an agent who either has a bachelor’s degree and/or is currently certified and in good standing with the NBPA.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on the situation via his Twitter account, writing, “The NBA’s agents have signed a letter that informs the NCAA that player agents will not register for the NCAA’s proposed agent certification process, according to the letter obtained by ESPN. The @TheNBPA will transmit letter to the NCAA soon, per sources.”

“Agents are certified by union and some states, but are pushing back on NCAA’s insistence it should hold regulatory/investigative power on agents. “There’s no rational connection between certification process,” and NCAA’s stated purpose of protecting men’s basketball players.“