David Falk

David B. Falk
Falk in 2013
Born1950 (age 73–74)
Long Island, New York, U.S.
EducationSyracuse University (BA)
George Washington University (JD)
OccupationSports agent
OrganizationFAME

David B. Falk (born 1950)[1][2] is an American sports agent who primarily works with basketball players in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He began his career representing professional tennis players for Donald Dell's ProServ and is best known for representing sports icon Michael Jordan for the entirety of Jordan's career.[3][4][5] Besides Jordan, Falk has represented more than 100 other NBA players, and is generally considered to be the most influential player agent the NBA has seen.[4][6][7][8] During the peak years of Falk's career in the 1990s, he was often considered the second-most powerful person in the NBA behind Commissioner David Stern,[2][9][10][11] and in 2000 he had at least one client on all but two NBA teams.[12] He was listed among the "100 Most Powerful People in Sports" for 12 straight years from 1990 to 2001 by The Sporting News,[13] and was also named one of the Top 50 Marketers in the United States by Advertising Age in 1995.[10]

Falk negotiated the then-highest contracts in NBA history for Patrick Ewing and Danny Ferry. He also negotiated professional sports' first US$100 million contract for Alonzo Mourning as part of an unprecedented free agency period, during which his company, FAME, changed the entire salary structure of the NBA, negotiating more than $400 million in contracts for its free agent clients in a six-day period.[14]

In January 2007, Falk re-launched FAME, and today serves as its founder and CEO. He represented nine players in 2012;[15] in the prime of his sports agent career in the 1990s he represented as many as 40 players at a time.[16][17]

  1. ^ Araton, Harvey. "Agent Makes Capital For an Elite Clientele", The New York Times, August 14, 1991. Retrieved March 26, 2008.
  2. ^ a b Hirschberg, L. "The Big Man Can Deal", The New York Times, November 17, 1996. Retrieved March 26, 2008.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference doleac was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Hyman, M. "Sparks Fly at Management Powerhouse SFX", Business Week, June 18, 2001. Retrieved June 16, 2007.
  5. ^ Ratto, Ray. "MJ anything but Falk's puppet", ESPN.com, January 20, 2000. Retrieved July 25, 2007.
  6. ^ "Agents again at forefront of NBA labor dispute", CNN/SI, December 28, 1998. Retrieved June 16, 2007.
  7. ^ Migala, Dan. "Career Spotlight: David Falk" Archived 2007-10-09 at the Wayback Machine, WorkInSports.com, June 4, 2001. Retrieved June 30, 2007.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference spoiler was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Marantz, S. (October 14, 1996). "The man with a plan". The Sporting News. Retrieved June 16, 2007 – via findarticles.com.
  10. ^ a b Benes, A. "Fame Jam" Archived 2007-06-07 at the Wayback Machine, n.d.. Retrieved June 16, 2007.
  11. ^ "Agents Provocateurs Archived 2007-10-26 at the Wayback Machine, n.d.. Retrieved June 21, 2007.
  12. ^ D'Alessandro, D. "Without Ewing, Knicks are a Greek tragedy", The Sporting News, October 2, 2000, available online at findarticles.com. Retrieved June 16, 2007.
  13. ^ "The TSN 100 History" Archived 2009-02-24 at the Wayback Machine, The Sporting News, 2001. Retrieved June 16, 2007.
  14. ^ "David and Rhonda Falk", Syracuse University News, April 23, 2008. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  15. ^ "HoopsHype - NBA Agents - David Falk Archived 2007-06-29 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  16. ^ Wise, Mike. "Is Falk Calling the Shots For Players in N.B.A. Talks?" The New York Times, December 28, 1998. Retrieved March 26, 2008.
  17. ^ DuPree, David. "Falk says Jordan still client, friend", USA Today, November 15, 1999. Retrieved June 30, 2007.