Aaron Goodwin Plans Action Against Arn Tellem for Poaching Al Horford

by Sam Amick

Filed under: Hawks, Sports Business and Media

Poaching has long been a part of the agent industry, with some considering the practice of stealing clients a necessary evil to survive in the business and others deeming it deplorable.

But three months after agent Keith Glass won his courtroom bout with agent Andy Miller in a landmark decision, the case is serving as a segue into a contentious faceoff between two industry heavyweights and might spark change at the institutional level as well.

Aaron Goodwin, 2009

Agent Aaron Goodwin told FanHouse that he plans to file a formal complaint against top agent Arn Tellem with the NBA Players Association in the coming weeks because of how his colleague came to represent Atlanta Hawks forward Al Horford. Horford was represented by Goodwin from the time he was picked third overall out of Florida in 2007 until late June, when he changed agents days before he was eligible to begin discussing a possible extension. The union will rule on whether the case goes to arbitration.

Adding to the mix that Goodwin finds mysterious, the agent who is listed as Horford's representative by the union is B.J. Armstrong, the former player who works for Tellem and has decidedly less experience than Goodwin in dealing with such negotiations. Tellem, however, is nothing short of a top dog in their dog-eat-dog world -- listed by Hoopshype.com as the top grossing agent in the game with 38 players in all (nine All-Stars) and a combined salary total of $181,526,949 among his players.

 

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Source: http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/10/28/aaron-goodwin-plans-action-against-arn-tellem-for-poaching-al-ho/

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