1 answer
Josiah’s Answer
Luke,
First off, I have to disagree with you. Isaiah Thomas is the best player in the NBA. But you are certainly right that Olynyk is an excellent big man and is likely to dominate the league for years to come. No one will be surprised if he leads the Celtics to fourteen straight championships between now and 2030.
To become a great basketball agent, you will first need to become a great lawyer. Sports agents need to be very familiar with the legal process of writing and agreeing to a contract, and also with labor laws more generally. Lawyers are responsible for helping their clients negotiate the best possible contract, so if you want to be hired by all-star caliber players like Kelly Olynyk, you're going to have to be one of the best lawyers in your field.
I would recommend that you spend some time researching the careers of the most successful basketball agents in order to learn about their backgrounds. For example, you might want to read about David Falk, who was Michael Jordan's agent is considered the most successful basketball agent ever. He wrote a book called "The Bald Truth" (http://www.amazon.com/The-Bald-Truth-David-Falk/dp/1416584390) which could give you insight into how he built his career, and the skills he relies on to get more money for his clients (and himself).
To start out, you might also like to spend some time reading wikipedia articles about the best agents. I recommend following the link sources at the bottom of the page, which will lead you to more well-written articles about each agent's career, what they studied in college and law school, and who they have represented in the NBA. Here are some to start you off:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Falk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arn_Tellem
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Duffy_(basketball)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Fegan