Local agent Rose on the rise
By KEVIN CALLAHAN
Courier-Post Staff
PENNSAUKEN
Leon Rose could play the game.
He was a selfless point guard who could stick a needed jumper or split the
defenders and drive to the basket for a back-breaking hoop.
Indeed, Rose was good enough running the Cherry Hill High School East basketball
team in the late 1970s that he was selected to the school's Sports Hall of
Fame.
Still, most of his clients, who include Sixers All-Star guard Allen Iverson
and rising star Dajuan Wagner, a Camden High School graduate, only see him
in a three-piece suit and not old Converse high tops.
``Most of them tell me to keep my mouth shut and worry about everything else,''
Rose said with a laugh when asked if he gives any jump-shooting advice to
his 15 clients.
Rose can laugh easily now, even though the demands of representing NBA players
have him globe- trotting and protecting his cell phone as he once did the
basketball for coach John Valore.
On this day, he's preparing to leave for the airport to take Wagner to a
workout in Los Angeles for the Clippers. On his way out, he grabs a handful
of messages from his his secretary's desk and answers his cell phone. It's
Sixers guard Aaron McKie, who is seeking advice on talking to reporters about
his shoulder surgery that day.
It's another hectic day, and Rose is exactly where he ADVERTISEMENT - CLICK
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wants to be: mixing his basketball background and his law degree to counsel
and guide some of the best basketball players in the world.
It was only about eight years ago that Rose almost abandoned his plan to
become an agent. He had lost out to a big-name agent, despite his determined
pursuit to sign Temple University swingman Eddie Jones and McKie. Meanwhile,
he was doing well since joining his father Zev's firm in 1990 as a litigator
with Sherman, Silverstein, Kohl, Rose and Podolsky.
But totally leaving the game he loved was tougher than a missed last-second
shot. Even after his college playing days were over at Dickinson College,
he stayed close to basketball. He was an assistant coach for Valore at East
for three years while he attended Temple Law School. Then he spent two seasons
assisting Pony Wilson at Rutgers- Camden while working his first job as an
assistant prosecutor in the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.
``I always had two things I wanted to do, and one was to be a basketball
coach,'' Rose said as he answered another call on his cell phone. ``I really
had a passion for the game and a passion to teach and coach.''
But after two years of coaching and working for the the prosecutor's office,
Rose had the opportunity in 1988 to become an associate at the firm of Mesirov,
Gelman, Jaffe, Cramer and Jamison.
``I had to make a decision, whether I was going to go into private practice
and be an attorney or to pursue coaching,'' he said. ``I made a decision I
was going to be an attorney.''
Law won out over basketball, but not for long.
In 1993, Rose was approached by Bill Simmons, the uncle of former La Salle
All-American Lionel Simmons, about representing his nephew for his second
NBA contract. Rose jumped at the chance.
``I said, `Wow, this is like the perfect combination. It brings together
the law and the coaching aspect, because it would give me the chance to be
involved with basketball players as their coach with regard to the next phase
of their life,''' Rose said.
Rose, 41, dove into the agent business like going after a loose ball in the
days of the old South Jersey North Conference. The next year, he worked hard
to sign McKie and Jones. He was interviewed by both, but didn't get the job.
That is when Rose admitted he was discouraged enough to give up the chase.
However, in 1995, Rose was hired by former Temple guard Rick Brunson, who
now plays for the Portland Trail Blazers. Brunson was Rose's breakthrough
client, but he came on the rebound. He had originally signed with what Rose
called a `` big-time agent.'' When Brunson went undrafted, he signed with
Rose, who got him in the Sixers camp, where he was the final player cut.
Brunson has been in the NBA for a half-dozen years now and is firmly entrenched.
So is Rose, who signed McKie and Jones on the rebound a few years ago.
``I remember people, teams would not call him back,'' Brunson said Sunday
night from his home in Voorhees. ``Now he doesn't have to call them back.''
••• Rose does return
calls for his clients.
``Last summer, I drove with Leon to Springfield (Mass.) for the induction
ceremony of John Chaney into the Basketball Hall of Fame,'' Valore said. ``The
whole weekend, he was on his cell phone with his clients. He is always there
for his clients.''
Rose has always been there for Valore too. They've shared a close relationship
for two decades.
``I knew he was something special when I first met him as a sophomore,''
Valore said. ``He was a young man you like to have in the program. He also
worked very hard and was very intelligent. And, at his size, he had to be
competitive, and that is what he was.''
But Valore knew the 5-foot-10 sophomore was more than just a player.
``He was something special because I noticed what type of person he was,''
Valore said.
Valore respected Rose so much that he asked his senior captain in 1979 to
be the godfather to his son J.C., now a senior at the University of Delaware.
``He was the type of person I would want my son to be like at that age,''
Valore said. ``His leadership qualities showed up at that age.''
Rose reciprocates the respect.
``The reason I wanted to be a coach is I was fortunate to have some great
people who were mentors to me,'' Rose said. ``My parents (Zev and Carol),
they set the tone. And then I had John Valore, who was a mentor of mine.''
Now Rose is a mentor to NBA players as president of Rose Professional Management
Inc., which is a separate entity for the law firm.
``We talk every day, like I do with coach Chaney,'' Brunson said about Rose.
``I call him every day like my mom, and it is not for business, I just want
to make sure he is breathing.''
Some days, Rose barely has time to breathe. Valore stressed that Rose has
become so successful because of his wife, Donna.
``Donna holds up the fort when Leon is out,'' Valore said of the mother of
the Roses' son Sam, 9, and daughter Brooke, 7. ``Without a wife that is loyal
to her husband, it is tough to be in the position he is in.''
With everything under control in their Cherry Hill home, Rose is able to
serve Iverson, Brunson, Jones and McKie as well as other NBA clients, who
include Jamison Brewer, a second-round pick by the Pacers in 2001, DeSegana
Diop, a first-round choice (No. 8) of Cleveland in 2001, Richard Hamilton
of the Wizards, and Rod Strickland of the Heat.
Rose added three college players this year: Wagner, Temple senior point guard
Lynn Greer and Memphis senior Kelly Wise.
He has kept a bond alive with Wagner that started years ago.
``He is like family,'' Wagner said of Rose last week during a trip to Los
Angeles for a workout with the Clippers. ``He has been around a long time.
Even before he was an agent, he was a friend of the family.''
Rose used to play against Dajuan's father, Milt, twice a year when the Cougars
played Camden. Later, Rose got to know his mother, Lisa Paulk.
``I've known the family forever; I've watched him grow up,'' Rose said.
Representing Wagner was a natural.
``I always hoped that I would when the time came,'' he said.
The time is here, as Wagner is expected to be a lottery pick in tonight's
NBA Draft.
``When you see someone you've known for a long time grow up and mature, both
on and off the court, and develop into the type of person and player that
he is, it is something really special,'' Rose said.
Rose is proving to be special to his clients too.
``He is genuine, a straight-up guy and someone who you can be comfortable
with,'' Brunson said. ``He is like family. He is always looking out for your
best interests. He will tell you things you don't want to hear. Like if you
want to buy a new car, he says, `If you spend the money this way, you can
do this.' He is always analyzing things.''
Valore believes Iverson saw how much trust Brunson and McKie and other players
had in Rose, and that is why he hired him to be his agent.
``When people get to know Leon, they know that he is trustworthy,'' Valore
said.
Brunson added that Rose makes his clients feel as at ease in his Pennsauken
office as they do on the court.
``His best selling point is Allen can talk freely around Leon,'' Brunson
said. ``People feel comfortable around him. I spread the word and try to help
as much as I can. A lot of people sell dreams, not Leon.
``Leon just says he will work hard for you.''
The hard work paid off as Rose became Iverson's agent last month. Iverson,
the NBA's MVP in 2001, had been without an agent the last couple of years.
``Having one of the top players in the game is an honor, and I was thrilled
to get that call,'' Rose said. ``I had gotten to know him over the last couple
of years as a result of representing Aaron and being around the team, and
also having some mutual friends.''
Rose represents Iverson in NBA-related matters. Iverson already has his shoe
contract and a business manager.
``I see myself as just another part of his already existing structure,''
Rose said. ``I'm his agent for the purpose of the NBA.''
However, with Wagner and most other clients, Rose handles endorsements and
contracts.
``They are going to listen to me some of the time; they are not going to
listen to me all the time. All I can do is give them my advice and hope they
follow it,'' Rose said. `` I would say the relationship is like big brother,
little brother.''
Brunson calls the relationship more like father-son.
``People respect what he says,'' Brunson said. ``He is a lawyer, so he watches
what he says.''
For Rose, being an agent to high-priced athletes isn't much different from
when he was practicing law.
``In representing clients, whether it is legal clients or athletes, I've
always taken the approach that you are in the service business and you do
your best and try to look out for their interests.
"Most importantly, what I try to do is tell it like it is, and I've
always taken that approach,'' Rose said. ``To me, this is about the players,
it is not about me. There are times when I have to tell them things that they
don't want to hear, and I hope that they respect that.''
Rose feels clients like Iverson are coming aboard because of his service.
``I've always believed in the law business or representing athletes that
I want to take care of each guy the best I can, and if I do that, the next
client will come,'' he said. ``There are some people in business in general
who are worried where the next one will come from, and I always believed in
taking care of what you have.
``Through your relationships, the word spreads. Everything is happening through
referrals. I feel if I take care of my players, other players will come. It
all goes back to my parents, former coaches. My dad and Steve Podolsky have
been partners for 30 years, and they taught me to build a foundation.
``These guys are human beings, just like us,'' Rose said.
And they are basketball players, just like Rose.
``He always tries to coach. His first love is coaching,'' Brunson said, laughing.
``He calls me and tells me I should do this - and I tell him to be a lawyer.''
