Opinion | Super agent Boras' days numbered
Hip-hop artist Jay-Z is finally breaking the near-monopoly held by the man who is loved by athletes but loathed by fans
Humility will never cut it in hip-hop. You have to be bold if you want to take hold. No one has to tell Shawn Carter that. Carter grew up without much in a bleak and rough public housing project in Brooklyn. He claims he was a hustler who started selling crack from the time he was 12 up until his mid-20s when he got his first record deal. He changed his job, changed his name and changed his industry. Today Jay-Z's net worth is half a billion US dollars. Now that's a hustler.
But you want to talk hustle? Scott Boras can stare you down. The most notorious baseball agent of all time, calling Boras a hustler would actually be a compliment considering every owner and most fans simply refer to him as an extortionist. Boras has personally negotiated contracts over the years that have netted about US$5 billion. Not sure what his exact percentage is on all that but even if it's a little, it's a lot.
The 60-year-old Boras often sports turtlenecks and sweaters. When he does wear jeans, they usually have pleats in them. He is about as hip as an Air Supply concert. So how is it that this uber-square, elderly man ended up on the most anticipated hip-hop album of the last few years?
Magna Carta Holy Grail is Jay-Z's first solo album since 2009 and it's no surprise when he takes a poke at fellow rapper Lil Wayne. Having a beef with your peers is as much a part of hip-hop as courtside seats and profanity. But to diss Boras as well? Oh man, when will it stop? Hopefully never because this is just so much fun. Not only is Lil Wayne one of Jay-Z's peers, now Boras is as well.
Jay-Z is in the sports agent business and freshly licensed by Major League Baseball and the NBA. His Roc Nation Sports group is just getting started but already it has managed to procure NBA star Kevin Durant and Notre Dame's photogenic basketball star Skylar Diggins, who is set to become the face of women's sports in the US. Most noteworthy, he managed to steal New York Yankees all-star second baseman Robinson Cano right from under Boras, which is no small feat considering Cano will be a free agent after this season and command upwards of US$100 million.
"For him to make such immediate changes means a lot was said to him," said Boras after Cano left. "A lot was promised and a player sometimes needs time to understand situations when a great amount of new information comes his way."