July 27, 2009

Long time lawyer-agent David Falk’s book The Bald Truth is worth putting on your summer reading list for some insider looks into contract negotiations, Falk’s opinions of other agents, his views on the current status of trying to recruit players, and more.

Falk shares how he got started in the Sports Law profession.  After graduating from Syracuse University in 1972, Falk headed to George Washington University Law School. Falk’s break into Sports Law did not come right away; during his first two years of Law School he worked part-time for the Bureau of Land Management with the Department of the Interior and for the big Chicago law Firm of Sidley & Austin in their Washington DC office.  The summer of 1974 brought Falk his big break when Donald Dell (a former Davis Cup Tennis player and lawyer) allowed him to work at Dell, Craighill, Fentress & Benton which was a law firm that also was tied in to the sports agency ProServ.  The summer job led to a part-time job and finally to being hired as an associate after completing law school.

Falk became Donald Dell’s right hand man, getting involved in representing not just tennis, but also basketball players.  Throughout the course of the book, Falk reveals that he didn’t always admire the way Dell did business, the way he negotiated contracts, or Dell’s long term view of the business.  But it was Donald Dell, for the most part, that allowed Falk to get his foot in the door.

Although David Falk was working with such luminaries in tennis as Arthur Ashe and Stan Smith, his passion was basketball.  His big break came through a family connection that allowed him to get to know Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson.  ProServ already had connections with Georgetown basketball, but Falk established a strong relationship with Coach Thompson.  Falk was to begin representing Thompson, and made some breakthroughs in terms of Thompson’s endorsements that far outweighed what other Big East coaches were getting.

ProServ had a strong working relationship with North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith.  Even though Falk was still playing second fiddle to Donald Dell in terms of working with Coach Smith, ProServ was able to land UNC’s star player Michael Jordan.  It was Donald Dell who negotiated Jordan’s first contract with the Chicago Bulls.  (David Falk makes it clear that this was not a well negotiated contract.)  However, it was Falk that would break new ground as he sought a shoe contract for the soon to be NBA rookie Michael Jordan.  The rest is history- ever heard of Air Jordan? At the same time, the author was developing strong ties to the Georgetown basketball program, where Patrick Ewing was debating whether or not to enter the NBA draft in 1984.

Tomorrow - Falk builds on Jordan and Ewing