William Sydney "Wes" Wesley (b. August 14, 1964 in Camden, New Jersey) is a consultant for Creative Artists Agency. Known as "World Wide Wes" or simply "Wes," he is most noted for his close relationships with numerous high-profile National Basketball Association (NBA) players and team owners, college basketball head coaches and their agents. Considered by many observers within the industry as a power broker and one of the most influential men in the business side of basketball, he forged those strong ties without being associated with any business entity.[1]
He is associated with many of the league's most prominent players, including Allen Iverson, Richard Hamilton, Michael Jordan and LeBron James. Wesley is a longtime client of Iverson and James's agent, the Philadelphia attorney Leon Rose.[2]
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Wesley played high school basketball for Pennsauken High School in Pennsauken, New Jersey. Playing for rival Camden High School was Milt Wagner, who later went on to the University of Louisville and the NBA. Wagner claims[3] that Wesley became his friend and confidant during high school, and that he introduced Wesley to Michael Jordan, among other pro basketball luminaries.
Around the same time, Leon Rose played basketball for nearby Cherry Hill High School East in Cherry Hill Township, New Jersey. In 2005 Rose acknowledged having been Wesley's attorney "for 21 years."[3]
In the early 1980s, Wesley worked as a salesperson at Pro Shoe, a sporting goods company, specializing in high-end basketball shoes, across the street from the Cherry Hill Mall.
Wesley is involved with The Family, a Detroit-area youth basketball team supported by Detroit Pistons guard Richard Hamilton,[4] and counts among his closest friends Hamilton, Iverson, and Dajuan Wagner,[4] the son of Milt Wagner and a first-round pick in the 2002 NBA Draft. All are clients of Rose.
Wesley was also very visible in the months leading up to LeBron James' defection from agent Aaron Goodwin.[4] Goodwin, who signed James out of high school, had helped him earn a lucrative contract with Nike. James signed with Rose during the summer of 2005.
On May 20, 2010 Mike and Mike in the Morning, Jalen Rose told Mike and Mike that he coined Wesley's nickname "World Wide Wes.[5][6]"