Rob Pelinka

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Rob Pelinka (born December 22, 1969) is an American lawyer, sports agent and former college basketball player. As a sports agent he is best known as Kobe Bryant's powerful agent. As a basketball player he is former high school All-American who has the distinction of having been a member of the 1988-89 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Champion University of Michigan Wolverines as well as both the 1991-92 and the 1992-93 national championship runners up that were best remembered as the Fab Five teams. Pelinka holds a Law Degree and Business degree from the University of Michigan. He is one of only a few players in NCAA History to have participated in three NCAA National Championship basketball games (1989, 1992, 1993). Pelinka was also named the 1993 NCAA (Walter Byers) Male Scholar Athlete of the Year. Pelinka holds the record for negotiating the largest contract in NBA history (137 million for Kobe Bryant in 2003).

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[edit] Sports agent

Rob Pelinka was hired as a lawyer for SFX management. He eventually became an agent for SFX.[1] He currently represents 11 active NBA players (2 All-Stars).[2] He has represented several Arizona Wildcats players including Andre Iguodala and Channing Frye.[3][4]

[edit] Kobe Bryant

Pelinka is best known as Los Angeles Lakers All-Star guard Kobe Bryant's agent. During the 2003 sexual assault case against Bryant Pelinka spent a considerable amount of time with his client. He accompanied him on trips to Eagle, Colorado.[5] It was Pelinka who confirmed the news of Bryant's second child.[6]

[edit] Carlos Boozer

Rob Pelinka was involved in a controversial negotiation which led to SFX resigning as the agent for Carlos Boozer.[7] The controversy involved discrepancies on an unconfirmed handshake agreement between Boozer and the Cavaliers Owner. Boozer at the time had a $700,000 option year remaining on his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers.[7] Boozer had originally been signed to a two-year guaranteed contract for $989,000 with a team option for the third year.[3] However, his market value was much higher than that after two seasons in the NBA. Supposedly, Cleveland general manager Jim Paxson agreed not to exercise the team’s option in an effort to sign him to a long term 6 year $41 million dollar contract. Once the team option expired, the Utah Jazz signed Boozer to a $68 million offer the Caveliers would not match because they were over the NBA Salary Cap.[7][3] Pelinka was vilified in the press for allowing his client to go to the highest bidder rather than forcing him to honor the unconfirmed handshake agreement. As a result, SFX dropped Boozer as a client.[7] Boozer maintained that Pelinka had been forced by SFX to sever their relationship. A year later, after a short stint with another agent, Boozer re-hired Pelinka.[8] Pelinka is now President of SFX Basketball .

[edit] Corey Maggette

Recently Pelinka has been concerned about the effect of Corey Maggette's role as a non-starter. He has been exploring a trade[9] but the Los Angeles Clippers do not feel they can get a fair exchange in the current market.

[edit] Basketball player

He is a former high school All-American basketball player from Lake Bluff, Illinois (suburban Chicago).[1][10] He starred at Lake Forest High School. [10] He then played in three NCAA Tournaments as a backup guard on teams that reached the Final Four during his career at the University of Michigan. He played in the 1988-89, 1990-91, 1991-92, and 1992-93 seasons. As a true freshman member of the 1988-1989 National Champions, his teammates included Glen Rice, Terry Mills Loy Vaught, Rumeal Robinson, Sean Higgins, and Demetrius Calip. As a redshirt member of the 1991-92, and 1992-93 national runners up his teammates included Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King, Ray Jackson (the Fab Five), and Eric Riley. During the 1992-93 season he led all reserves in minutes and assists and was second in points and rebounds.

[edit] Education

[edit] Honors

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c Heuser, John (2004-03-08). Former U-M Player Has To Stay In Touch As a Sports Agent. www.prosportsgroup.com. Retrieved on February 19, 2007.
  2. ^ HoopsHype.com Agents. HoopsHype.com (2007). Retrieved on February 19, 2007.
  3. ^ a b c Rivera, Steve (2005-04-20). NBA DRAFT: UA's Frye hires agent, is seen as first-rounder. tucsoncitizen.com. Retrieved on February 20, 2007.
  4. ^ JonathanG (2006-09-19). Lute!. truehoop.com. Retrieved on February 21, 2007.
  5. ^ Jamie Colby, Carol McKinley, Rita Cosby, Catherine Donaldson-Evans and The Associated Press (2003-10-10). Detective Details Alleged Rape in Kobe Hearing. FOXNews.com. Retrieved on February 24, 2007.
  6. ^ Bryant's wife is expecting second child. NewsFromRussia.com (2005-11-09). Retrieved on February 24, 2007.
  7. ^ a b c d Pelinka and client criticized after Jazz deal. ESPN.com (2004-07-13). Retrieved on February 19, 2007.
  8. ^ Boozer Rehires His Agent Rob Pelinka. Salt Lake Tribune excerpted @ realgm.com (2005-03-02). Retrieved on February 27, 2007.
  9. ^ Reid, Jason (2007-01-26). Sterling wants Maggette to stay. latimes.com. Retrieved on February 20, 2007.
  10. ^ a b Forester, Lake (2004-11-04). Pelinka Shines as Agent to the Stars. www.prosportsgroup.com. Retrieved on February 19, 2007.

[edit] External links

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