NBA broker, and founder and CEO of the powerful sports agency Klutch Sports Group, Rich Paul, opens up about his childhood and against-the-odds success in his new memoir, “Lucky Me: A Memoir of Changing the Odds.”
“When you read the book, you get to dive into a lot of the things that I had to overcome,” said Paul, per People magazine. “But hence the title of ‘Lucky Me.’ I was lucky enough to be able to continue down a path where there wasn’t a ton of light, but the door was cracked with a little light, and I was smart enough not to invest in the pitfalls that were there for me every day in my environment.”
Rich Paul is telling his story in a new book, “Lucky Me: A Memoir of Changing the Odds.” Above, the high-powered sports agent attends the Jan. 31 game between the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers at Madison Square Garden. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Before becoming the sports powerhouse known to leverage deals for stars like best friend LeBron James and Anthony Davis, Paul was raised by a mother who battled drug addiction in a rough neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio. Coming from an area ridden by crime, Paul described his hometown as “a place where every day is chaotic,” and sirens constantly rang in the background.
“The thing about it is, I was never really a kid,” he told People.
Throughout the book, Paul tethers back and forth between recounting his mother’s absence due to her addiction and the pleasant moments he had with her when she was clean, according to the New York Times. Though these moments were pivotal in his upbringing, the sports CEO says reflecting on his mother’s drug addiction “was one of the toughest things for [him]to relive and write about.”
“I had built up this wall as a young kid, to just have the understanding to move forward and know that she’s not going to be there,” he added, per People magazine. “Like, Mom is not coming home.”
The memoir, written with the help of journalist Jesse Washington and with a foreword by LeBron James, also details the influence Paul’s father had on his life. Though his father had another family, Paul worked alongside him at the family corner store, where he learned lessons about business, respect, and more.
“I had a great example of who a man should be and what a man should do,” said Paul about his father, per People magazine. “I had a front-row seat to what work ethic was like, what perseverance was like. I watched my dad play air traffic controller in a community that was a war mixed with a tornado, but also a picnic at times. He was my hero in that regard.”
“Lucky Me: A Memoir of Changing the Odds” hits the stands on Oct. 10 and is available for preorder now.
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