Ben Wallace has fired his agent, Steve Kauffman , and is in the process of trying to interview and hire a new one. It's a huge hiring, too, since Wallace will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

"I don't need anybody to negotiate for me," Wallace said. "I just need somebody who can look over the contract and make sure everything is right."

It was a discrepancy over an item in his contract with Kauffman that caused the split.

"We had agreed that he would start charging me an hourly rate," Wallace said. He had paid Kauffman four percent of his earnings.

"He agreed to that, but then I was looking over the contract and I saw where it said, if I don't sign an extension or a maximum deal, it would go back to me paying him four percent. I didn't know if he was trying to pull a fast one on me or not, but I know he knows me a whole lot better than that."

Kauffman did not immediately return phone calls Saturday.

"When I asked him about it, he said he saw that a couple of weeks ago and had been meaning to call me," said Wallace, shaking his head. "I told him, 'All you've got to do is admit you've made a mistake.' And he said, 'You know I would never try to do something like that to you.' But I wasn't falling for that one."

Wallace said he hoped to hire an agent within a few weeks.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060115/SPORTS0102/601150396

The word is that Wallace will be receiving a four-year offer from Pistons brass, then they'll bargain.

I have faith in Dumars to do what he has to to keep Wallace a Piston. Quite frankly, I don't want to see Ben anywhere else.

Ben Wallace has fired his agent, Steve Kauffman , and is in the process of trying to interview and hire a new one. It's a huge hiring, too, since Wallace will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

"I don't need anybody to negotiate for me," Wallace said. "I just need somebody who can look over the contract and make sure everything is right."

It was a discrepancy over an item in his contract with Kauffman that caused the split.

"We had agreed that he would start charging me an hourly rate," Wallace said. He had paid Kauffman four percent of his earnings.

"He agreed to that, but then I was looking over the contract and I saw where it said, if I don't sign an extension or a maximum deal, it would go back to me paying him four percent. I didn't know if he was trying to pull a fast one on me or not, but I know he knows me a whole lot better than that."

Kauffman did not immediately return phone calls Saturday.

"When I asked him about it, he said he saw that a couple of weeks ago and had been meaning to call me," said Wallace, shaking his head. "I told him, 'All you've got to do is admit you've made a mistake.' And he said, 'You know I would never try to do something like that to you.' But I wasn't falling for that one."

Wallace said he hoped to hire an agent within a few weeks.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060115/SPORTS0102/601150396

ben then proceeded to explain his theory that nba contracts are based on past considerations, and proposed a new theory based on quantum meruit and something he calls 'the ben wallace good faith doctrine'...

wtf? im having a very hard time imagining ben wallace reading the fine print of an agreement he has with his agent. impressed though.

btw, the second half of that article talked about prince playing more pg. phasing out arroyo? perhaps.

interesting thought, if prince entered the draft as a big pg, rather than a true sf, he'd probably have been a top 5 pick.

Good for Ben. Dont take shit from no1. As long as he dosnt hire TO's agent, shouldnt affect anything. Ben will be a piston for life.

I remember reading a piston's magazine I got at a game a year or two ago. Ben Wallace started studying to be a judge and said after his NBA career he still plans on fulfilling that goal. So that should tell you something. He is definitely intelligent enough to read through a legal document.


and about prince... hehe.

well its the natural reaction of society to judge a book by its cover(or atleast how they define its cover).

Ben Wallace, big heavy weight lifting black guy from a small college and an athlete from the south.. must mean he couldnt be intelligent,.

people would believe jason williams to be smart before Ben Wallace. just the unfortunate set up of society :? ...nevertheless, good for him. you play basket ball til you mid to late 30's. theres plenty of life after that so why not try another goal.

I think Ben's small southern town drawl/accent/way of speaking also leads some assume he's less intelligent than he may truly be.

EDIT: He talks like Forrest Gump, from Greenbow, Alabama. Where's Ben from? Whitehall, Alabama? How far is that from Greenbow, and has he ever gone shrimpin?

people would believe jason williams to be smart before Ben Wallace.

Oh hell no.

I wouldn't go so far as to say "Put any white NBA player against any black player and the masses will exclusively pick the cracker as the smarter guy."

Clyde Drexler v. Greg Oostertag? The Glide in a heartbeat.

Dr. J v. Jon Crotty? Please.

Ben Wallace v. Jason Williams? Big Ben all the way.

people would believe jason williams to be smart before Ben Wallace.

Oh hell no.

I wouldn't go so far as to say "Put any white NBA player against any black player and the masses will exclusively pick the cracker as the smarter guy."

Clyde Drexler v. Greg Oostertag? The Glide in a heartbeat.

Dr. J v. Jon Crotty? Please.

Ben Wallace v. Jason Williams? Big Ben all the way.
the last two are bs, people would totally believe that a guy as bad at basketball as crotty would have to be smarter.

and i still dont agree on the jwill big ben thing.

and my goodness its ostertags red neck that hurts him.

people would believe jason williams to be smart before Ben Wallace.

Oh hell no.

I wouldn't go so far as to say "Put any white NBA player against any black player and the masses will exclusively pick the cracker as the smarter guy."

Clyde Drexler v. Greg Oostertag? The Glide in a heartbeat.

Dr. J v. Jon Crotty? Please.

Ben Wallace v. Jason Williams? Big Ben all the way.
the last two are bs, people would totally believe that a guy as bad at basketball as crotty would have to be smarter.

and i still dont agree on the jwill big ben thing.

and my goodness its ostertags red neck that hurts him.

Also, his self-proclaimed nickname: "The Big Stupid".

I read somewhere that he was just going to get a lawyer to go over the contract once he gets what he wants. No agent.

Add reason #500 why Ben is the best.


Art

Jon Crotty vs. Anyone... please, we already know who wins this one.

Jon Crotty vs. Anyone... please, we already know who wins this one.
Anyone and there mothers are better. i'd even pick jack haley and tom tolbert of over crotty.

Chuck Nevitt's mullet>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Jon Crotty's career.

but thats getting off subject.

I do actually wonder if Ben will stick with his "handle my own contract" theory. I might not be unprecedented. But a tall order nonetheless.

webber signed his max contract sans lawyer, but only because he's an ass and didnt want to pay his agent and he could get a max without him.

i never said ben was dumb. outside of this article i've never really had a reason to assume anything about his intelligence. you never hear any nba player act responsibly...

. you never hear any nba player act responsibly...
thats not the players fault that responsible nba players isnt the news that sells. fights in the club and weed in the car seem to get quicker sales for the papers.

people would believe jason williams to be smart before Ben Wallace. just the unfortunate set up of society :? ...nevertheless, good for him. you play basket ball til you mid to late 30's. theres plenty of life after that so why not try another goal.


that is not going to happen in real life. Jason Williams is looked at as one of the dumbest guys in the league (off the court that is).

Shouldn't this be a thread about Ben's contract extension thoughts?

webber signed his max contract sans lawyer, but only because he's an ass and didnt want to pay his agent and he could get a max without him.

i never said ben was dumb. outside of this article i've never really had a reason to assume anything about his intelligence. you never hear any nba player act responsibly...

Why's that make Webber an ass? It costs a lot less to hire a lawyer to interpret the contract, and since his market value was set, why pay an agent a percentage. I wouldn't blame Ben, or any player, for doing that.

As for Ben's extension, I think 4 years, $55.56 million, starting at $12 million a year with max raises, with every penny guaranteed. After years of being underpaid, Dumars will ensure that he's the highest paid Piston.

it doesnt make him an ass. what makes him an ass is being netoriously cheep despite having all the money in the world. him dropping his agent like that only furthers that notion.

has any other player done that move? i know it was speculated that players would, but the only player i know that did it was webber.

the 4 years starting at 12 for ben sounds good.

but im guessing we've got 5 years coming (isnt that the most years chicago could offer?). either way, i dont have a problem paying ben ~16 million at 35 or even ~18 at 36.

but im guessing CB will want the same, or close to it.

better go to all the games you can now, cuz i have the feeling ticket prices are about to be on the rise.

so he's really greedy to get out of his shoe deal because of all the money they charged for his kicks to inner city youths?

i dont know him so i wont argue this too far since you guys are related. 8)
just curious to how you equate this to him being greedy, cheap, and selfish? im sure you have your reasons, but i wouldn't mind something deeper than him negotiating his own max contract. :D

not really a big deal argument so i apologize for extending it by asking. i was just curious is all.

I thought there were a few players who did their contracts without an agent a few years back?

Just about anyone who knows they are getting the max really has no need for an agent.

chris webber is very well known for being an asshole.

last year, the freep wrote an article about him getting off a plane, and had bag check guy handle like 5 suitcases, a few other bags, and a golf bag, and only tipped the guy a dollar.

webber's had a silver spoon in his mouth for so long i doubt he even realized what a prick he was being.

chris webber is very well known for being an asshole.

last year, the freep wrote an article about him getting off a plane, and had bag check guy handle like 5 suitcases, a few other bags, and a golf bag, and only tipped the guy a dollar.

webber's had a silver spoon in his mouth for so long i doubt he even realized what a prick he was being.
the freep also has it in for him. have you ever heard a non-detroit paper or media speak of this?
blah , nevermind. i was hoping you had something better than luggage stories. fair enough.

the freep also has it in for him.


no shit. I can't believe they had anything about tipping baggage guys at all. who cares about that stuff?

well im done with it. b diddy is a grown man and he hates webber so every reason will seem like a good one, even luggage tipping stories. im not gonna try to give him any picture of how his reasoning looks from my point of view. he's entitled to hate who he wants. i hate doug collins and i dont have any reason besides he cries too much and is a quitter in my opninion only. so we all have our hate guys. :wink:

bumpage

an interesting read in light of recent events

some of those guesses were pretty good

Good for Ben. Dont take shit from no1. As long as he dosnt hire TO's agent, shouldnt affect anything. Ben will be a piston for life.

[smilie=grumble.gif] [smilie=dissed.gif] [smilie=sayitaintso: [smilie=banghead.gi: