News
For sale: 1 Ricky RubioAugust 04, 2009
By Austin Burton
When you’re an incoming NBA rookie, your offseason usually goes like this: Sign with an agent, work out for teams, get drafted, play summer league, settle into your new city. And depending on how popular you are, knock out some photo shoots and commercial shoots before training camp.
If you’re the agent of an NBA rookie, it’s like this: Sign the player, get him drafted as high as possible, tie up any loose ends as far as getting your guy settled, then try to get as many endoresement deals as possible.
For Ricky Rubio’s people, that “loose ends” part is dominating this offseason (and could dominate the next two seasons), and the endorsement part is becoming more and more important by the day.
In an effort to help foot the bill of the $6 million-plus buyout from DKV Joventut, Rubio and his reps are, according to today’s St. Paul Pioneer Press, seeking out all the endorsements they can get, including ones in Minnesota. By now you’ve seen the Gillette ad where Rubio shares camera time with Derek Jeter, Tiger Woods and Roger Federer. With his international appeal, it shouldn’t be too hard. From an Associated Press article a couple weeks ago:
“He’s young. He’s Spanish. He’s a good-looking kid,” said (Matt) Delzell, a director for Los Angeles-based Davie Brown Talent, one of the largest talent buyers in the United States. “There is a lot of hype and buzz that is already around him.”
“Buzz” is that most fickle, slippery of qualities that is harder to get a grip on than one of the point guard’s no-look passes. But Delzell said that intangible quality, combined with a flashy style of play, a baby face and a shaggy ‘do that is en vogue with young people make the 18-year-old Rubio a highly marketable commodity in the endorsement world. …
“There are plenty of companies who will say that he’s interesting and will keep an eye on him, but we’re not going to invest or commit that significant amount of money without seeing that he’s legit,” Delzell said. “So if he performs, I don’t have a doubt that he will be able to make up that buyout amount. It will come down to performance.”
Whenever he gets to the NBA, Rubio should be a media beast (if, like the article says, he plays well). Even if he’s still playing in Spain this season, you have to imagine some forward-thinking U.S.-based companies will want to get on the train early when he’s looking for them and before he’s in a position to reject offers.