The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) latest ruling on the requirement for agents to represent college basketball players looking to test the waters ahead of the draft has created a major uproar. LeBron James has been leading the criticism and has labeled the latest ruling “The Rich Paul Rule” as it will keep out the NBA’s most influential agent from representing college basketball players.

The new NCAA ruling requires agents representing college players to have a bachelor’s degree, to be certified with the National Basketball Players Association (NPBA) for at least three years and take an in-person exam at the NCAA office in Indianapolis. The new NCAA application also states the agents have to agree to cooperate with the governing body in connection with its investigations of any rule violations.

LeBron James
LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers stands for the national anthem prior to the game against the Washington Wizards at Staples Center in Los Angeles, March 26, 2019. Yong Teck Lim/Getty Images

“In the new NCAA agent application, agents are required to "agree to cooperate with the NCAA in connection with its investigation and analysis of possible rules violations, even if the alleged violations are unrelated to [their] NCAA-agent certification, sources told ESPN,” ESPN’s college basketball insider Jeff Borzello wrote.

James, who is managed by Paul, was absolutely enraged hearing the new ruling and mocked the NCAA. He was not the only one to come out swinging for Paul and ridicule the NCAA as a number of NBA players and actor Kevin Hart have criticized the collegiate association for its new ruling. Apart from James, the influential agent also manages top players like Anthony Davis, Ben Simmons and Draymond Green among others.

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