Comment: Forte's Deal Raises Questions

Comment: Forte's Deal with Celtics Raises Questions About Agent Choice

In last month's NBA draft, the Boston Celtics selected Joseph Forte, an All-American guard out of the University of North Carolina with the 21st pick of the 1st round.

So, what's so significant about this particular pick? The answer is that the relationship between Forte, his mother, and Octagon, the global sports marketing group with offices in 21 countries, which Forte recently announced would serve as his representative, has come into serious question.

It's been noticed by more than a few, that Forte's mother, Wanda Hightower, is employed in Octagon's accounting department. Her length of employment by the firm, as well as the circumstances of how she obtained her position, are quite curious. The situation was first investigated by UNC officials who have since concluded that Hightower was indeed, qualified for the job, and obtained it without any outside help or undue influence.

Now, the question is, how many people actually believe that?

The investigation is ongoing, regardless of the lack of findings on the part of UNC officials. Now, the North Carolina Secretary Of State's office is probing the case. They have questioned a top Octagon official about the hiring of Forte's mother in accordance with the North Carolina sports agents law. A man who pushed for adopting the law, after being elected to the secretary's office in 1988, Rufus Edmisten, feels the case very much merits being investigated. The major issue is one of "undue
influence".

Supposing there was no "undue influence" or wrongdoing of any sort, you would have to think Forte would have chosen a different firm as his representative, simply for the sake of eliminating any, and all such questions and speculation. After all, Octagon is certainly not the only capable firm out there. Quite the contrary in fact. Octagon's specialty is in the area of marketing.

Forte recently signed a set wage-scale deal, according to reports, in the vicinity of $2.5 million over three years with the Celtics. There is very little negotiation involved in NBA rookie contracts, in fact, a few NBA players have elected to negotiate their own contracts lately. Not being a top-10 caliber pick, very likely means limited endorsement opportunities for Forte at this point in time. Other than Michael Vick, and a select few others, endorsement opportunities for professional athletes are not all that plentiful.

So again, why Octagon at this point in time, unless the firm was offering favors such as a job for Forte's mother, along with other possible perks? One certainly has to raise an eyebrow at the circumstances of the whole scenario, thus the reason an investigation is ongoing.

Of course, at the very least, Forte's eligibility during this past college season could be questioned if Octagon hired Hightower with the promise of securing Forte as a client. NCAA regulations prohibit student-athletes or their family members from receiving favors or gifts "of any kind" from agents. Yet, everyone knows such practices occur regularly anyway. If there was wrongdoing, those involved are not stupid enough to have made it either blatantly obvious, or easily provable in a court of law.

Even though U.N.C. officials claim to have found nothing amiss, this hardly means there was none. The sports agent business has a reputation of being anything but clean as a whistle, and that reputation may not necessarily improve with agencies such as Octagon dominating the business. Offering players "guaranteed" money long before they have cause to sit down and negotiate a contract, or favors to family members, or cars, are discrepancies someone should finally do something to eliminate.

The sports representation business needs cleaned up. No one likes a lot of regulations, yet dishonest people make their enforcement, along with additional ones, quite necessary.

David Burkey
daveywriter@hotmail.com