Klutch Sports Group and agency founder Rich Paul were sued in federal court Wednesday by a former colleague and longtime NBA agent for allegedly breaching contract. Mark Termini filed the complaint Wednesday morning in the Northern District of Ohio, alleging he is owed more than $4.9 million plus interest for services he performed for the famed agency.
Termini alleges in his lawsuit that after working with Paul for about 15 months, he signed with Klutch in 2014 to become the company’s primary contract negotiator. In that role, Termini says he was responsible for negotiating contracts for Klutch and its clients (his Klutch contract stated that he would be the “exclusive negotiator”), was the primary liaison with teams and developed the company’s strategy with the NBA organization and the media.
Termini said in the lawsuit that he was contractually obligated to receive 25% of Clutch’s agent fees for the deals his NBA clients signed, which he said were then extended to Dec. 2, 2020.
But Termini alleges that Klutch and Paul told him around 2018 that they wanted to be paid less than they were due under the terms of the contract.
“Instead of attempting to renegotiate their written contracts with the MTA and Termini, KSG and Paul began unilaterally and improperly submitting payments to the MTA and Termini in vastly smaller amounts,” according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Klutch initially paid Termini the amount he was owed, but then later paid him less than he should have been paid.
“This lawsuit is inaccurate and misguided,” a Clutch spokesperson said. “It will be addressed in the appropriate forum.”
Termini has represented NBA players since 1986 through his agency MTA. Clients include Ron Harper, Jim Jackson and Rod Strickland. Termini had reportedly negotiated more than $400 million in deals before Paul contacted him in 2012. Paul founded Clutch that same year. Clutch partnered with UTA in 2019 and expanded into other professional sports.
Termini said he was essentially empowered as the agency’s lead negotiator. He said he was the architect of the strategy that brought LeBron James back to Cleveland in 2014 and executed the terms of James’ 1+1 contract with the Cavaliers. He said he was the one who “developed and executed KSG’s player contract negotiation strategy” from 2014 to 2019 and had influence over when contract offers would be accepted or rejected.
Termini said in the lawsuit that he negotiated more than $1.4 billion in contracts for Clutch, including Draymond Green, Ben Simmons, Eric Bledsoe, Dejounte Murray and James.
“Despite Termini being the lead (and effectively the sole) negotiator throughout all stages of the player contract negotiation process, KSG and Paul, individually and collectively, sought to publicly tout in the media the contracts negotiated by Termini in order to enhance Paul’s industry reputation and the value of the KSG agency,” Termini’s complaint states. “In or around 2018, as a direct result of the performance of MTA and Termini’s contract negotiations, KSG and Paul’s credibility had become established in the marketplace, and KSG and Paul indicated that they were willing to pay MTA and Termini significantly less than was required by the terms of the contracts.”
By 2020, Termini’s lawsuit alleges that Clutch and Paul took advantage of the NBA’s hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic and waited until the day after Termini’s contract with Clutch expired on Dec. 2, 2020 to sign two contracts.
Klutch and Paul will have the opportunity to refute Termini’s claims in court and file a response to his complaint.
(Photo: Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
