Anthony Farris
Videos by OutKick
When I was in high school, some new cargo shorts, a clean pair of Adidas Superstar 2Gs, two or three squirts of Cool Water, and a leased sedan (via your parents) were the surefire ways to score a prom date. Mikey Williams probably won’t have to go to those extremes to find a dance partner. The 17-year-old is in line to make millions, thanks to the name, imagine, likeness (NIL) rules in North Carolina.
A top-10 basketball recruit in the class of 2023, Williams signed an endorsement and sponsorship deal with Excel Sports Management that’s expected to generate millions of dollars. Originally from San Diego, Williams resides in North Carolina, which has no law preventing high school athletes from profiting off of their name, image and likeness. He’s the first high school hooper to take advantage of the new lucrative NIL rules.
HS star Mikey Williams (5M+ social media followers) is the first prep hooper to sign with a major sports representation agency.
"The NIL rules provide a new opportunity for someone like me who that has put in so much energy and effort into building a community.”
(h/t @wojespn) pic.twitter.com/CcOYflfnfF
— Boardroom (@boardroom) July 22, 2021
Matt Davis, the vice president of Excel Sports Management told ESPN that he believes the deal will “generate millions of dollars” for the hoops standout. “Mikey’s relevance around his peers in the basketball community is off the charts. He’s one of the most relevant personalities in the basketball community. His digital and social following speak for themselves,” said Davis, via ESPN.
Williams’ financial boom has the makings of the biggest high school flex since Kobe took Brandy to prom.
Kobe Bryant as the top High School Basketball player in the Nation at the time took Brandy the top RnB singer at the time, to his prom. #Gangster pic.twitter.com/dvuXRsX555
— Zulu X (@ZuluX11) January 29, 2020
Williams, who is probably the only millionaire dissecting a frog in a Lake Norman Christian science class this fall, commented on his historic deal via ESPN: “The NIL rules provide a new opportunity for someone like me who has put in so much energy and effort into building a community. I am excited to be the first high school athlete to make this move. I love to hoop and I love engaging with my fans and look forward to continuing to share my journey with everyone.”
Soon enough, the young man’s going to have enough paper to purchase Cool Water by the gallon.
Look out, ladies.
Congrats to this young brother. Get that paper. “Stick it to the man before he can stick it to you”. Good luck, continue your education and listen to your parents. #ForTheCulture #America #MeritocracyForRealMen
As the great zen master says, we’ll see.
This is capitalism. The current market is giving these athletes the most value for there current worth. Would their value grow with proper guidance? Yes, for some. Is there current value hitting its peak and they have to take advantage now? Yes, for some.
Good luck to them all but ultimately the invisible hand of economics will let you know.
First two sentences I actually can’t disagree. The rest is per usual stupid. You think this playa is going to care about school now? Listen to his parents? Really, why? They make $50k a year probably. Even if they are well paid professionals the son will make more than his parents. He doesn’t care anything about any fucking culture he cares about himself. But again, hey get it while you can that’s capitalism.
There is absolutely no way in hell this will end well for the young athletes that will be exploited by this in the end. Lmao most of these guys are sebastian telfairs rather then lebron james….Agents and marketing gurus know this they will take advantage get them shit contracts on the promise of quick cash and we won’t hear about it till it’s entirely too late. Completely misguided reckless roll out of all of this.
What could possibly go wrong. *rolls eyes*
Basketball! Whoo-hoo. another 7-ft tall guy with a 4-ft reach dropping a 12-inch ball into a 24-inch hoop only 10 feet off the ground…
wow
it’s the same as if my 5ft-7in fat-ass was using a 6′ ball, a 24″ hoop that was only only 8ft off the ground. who would care?
NO ONE! I surely am not impressed at a giant playing a game meant for 5.5ft adolescent kids….
No, it’s not like that at all. You are not at the peak of athletic performance.
The current problem of the NBA is its lack of in game strategy and toughness. One of these problems can be cured by better coaching, the other is a culture issue with the players.
We expect and deserve (for our dollar) the maximum performance for those on the field of play. These players are friends and not competitors. We see it but the marketers are late but they’ll catch up.
Used to love to watch Spud Webb dunk 5ft 7 and talk about elevation amazing
You must be fun at parties.
Honestly don’t know how they pay unknown athletes a million dollars. It shows you how overpriced their products really are…and to be honest, most athletic companies use Chinese slave labor to produce their goods, so the profit margins are through the roof. They spend more in advertising than on the actual products. Same with our tech companies and phones. But to paraphrase Ali, those yellow people never did nothing for him…so who cares.