David Falk, hardly unbiased to be fair, told John Thompson on his
radio show that Corey Maggette has made a series of bad decisions which
have probably cost him 5 to 10 million dollars. First of all, he
would have been a much higher pick after at least another year.
Secondly, he (and this is hardly a disinterested criticism, but
there is a point) said that not hiring an agent was a mistake. He
points out that Arn Tellem got Jonathan Bender drafted ahead of Wally
Sczerbicak and that he had had a hand in getting Brand drafted #1.
Now to be fair, that is a useful function of an agent. A kid like Corey,
or any nineteen year old (the only expection could be Kobe Bryant, who
had his dad to fall back on), can't possibly know the ropes,
personalities and pitfalls of the NBA. We recognize that he's the last
person who would tell a kid not to have an agent - and preferably he'd
be the agent, no doubt - but nonetheless, he's likely right.
There's a world of difference between what Maggette got and would he
might have had had he been a bit more patient and less headstrong.
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