Which agencies lead NBA player representation?

By McKinley Malbrough III, J.D., MS-HRM · Certified WNBA player agent · Former certified NBA agent

Published November 1, 2026. Last updated November 1, 2026.

This is Part 1 of a six-part series on the business of basketball, written to help readers understand how player representation works. Entering the profession meant studying the market one agency at a time, and this series shares that homework with respect for the work behind it: each firm below built its position through years of service to players. It describes the market. It does not recommend a firm or ask any reader to contact one, and it uses only public reporting.

• Part 1 (this article): which agencies lead the market and how that is measured.
• Part 2: the best-known NBA agents and the paths they took.
• Part 3: the agencies and agents behind women's basketball.
• Part 4: how an NBA contract is negotiated at the top of the market.
• Part 5: WNBA contracts, endorsements and the agent fee cap.
• Part 6: certification, fees and the ways into the business.

Agencies are measured in different ways, so this part separates the measures: revenue estimates, client counts, ownership and reputation.

Which are the top NBA sports agencies?

Among the basketball-focused firms, the top NBA sports agencies in Forbes's 2025 ranking of estimated maximum commissions are CAA, Wasserman, Excel, Octagon and Klutch, ranked first through fifth, with WME Basketball listed tenth, per The Big Lead. Forbes measures all sports, so firms such as Boras and Roc Nation rank between Klutch and WME, and it estimates what an agency could earn at the maximum fee rate.

The table follows The Big Lead's report of the Forbes list, published December 22, 2025. The Forbes page itself was not available for this series, so treat the figures as reported through that outlet.

Which are the biggest sports agencies in the world?

The biggest sports agencies in the world are the same firms at the top of the Forbes list, because the largest groups represent athletes across basketball, football, baseball, soccer and more. A Front Office Sports ranking from 2022 showed the same top five names, CAA, Wasserman, WME, Excel and Octagon, per the research for this series. That older list is context only, since agency size changes each year.

Basketball is one division inside these groups. A firm can be enormous overall and still concentrated in a few sports, which is why the NBA picture below uses client counts as well.

What is the NBA player agency market share?

The NBA player agency market share is spread across many firms, and no official body publishes it. The NBPA keeps a public directory of certified agents, but it does not rank agencies, per the NBPA agents page. The closest public view is a third-party tracker, SalarySwish, which lists these client counts, undated and without a stated method, per SalarySwish.

Treat the counts as approximate. Agents notice that client counts and contract values tell different stories: a large roster of rotation players and a small roster of stars can both be a strong business.

Who represents the most NBA players?

By that tracker's count, CAA represents the most NBA players, followed closely by Excel, per SalarySwish. The tracker also adds each agency's client contract values and puts CAA first at about $3.48 billion, then Excel at $2.65 billion and Klutch at $2.59 billion. Both rankings are indicative, because the tracker does not date its numbers.

Which are the highest grossing NBA agencies?

The highest grossing NBA agencies cannot be named with certainty, because agencies are private and commission income is not published. The Forbes table above is an estimate of maximum fees, and it covers every sport. The NBPA caps what an agent may charge on a standard NBA contract at 4 percent of each season's pay, and at 2 percent when the player receives only the minimum, per the NBPA regulations. Part 4 explains those rules in detail, and the guide to what basketball agents make covers the fee side.

What does the CAA basketball client list look like?

The CAA basketball client list, as a tracker shows it, includes Tyrese Haliburton, Paul George and Jalen Brunson, per SalarySwish, and Jaren Jackson Jr., OG Anunoby, Zion Williamson and Donovan Mitchell, per its Austin Brown page. ESPN's report on Devin Booker's extension names CAA's Jessica Holtz and Melvin Booker, per ESPN. CAA's basketball agents Aaron Mintz and Austin Brown joined the firm in 2012 and 2013, per Boardroom. Part 2 profiles both. Client lists change, so treat any list as a snapshot.

What is Excel Sports Management known for in the NBA?

Excel Sports Management NBA work began with founder Jeff Schwartz, who started the firm in 2002 as a basketball management and marketing business and later added other sports, per Wikipedia. Forbes ranked Schwartz the top basketball agent in 2022, per the same page. In November 2025, Goldman Sachs Alternatives announced an agreement to buy a majority stake from Shamrock Capital, subject to regulatory approval, with offices in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, Charlotte and London, per Simpson Thacher. Whether the deal has closed was not confirmed for this series.

Who are the Klutch Sports Group players?

Klutch Sports Group players include LeBron James, Anthony Davis, De'Aaron Fox and Tyrese Maxey, per Sportico. Rich Paul founded the firm in 2012, UTA invested in 2019, and Klutch manages about $7.27 billion in contracts, per theGrio in August 2026. Some readers search for the firm as clutch sports group basketball, a common spelling slip; the company's name is Klutch with a K.

How do CAA vs Klutch Sports and Excel Sports vs CAA basketball compare?

In the CAA vs Klutch Sports comparison, CAA is far larger on every published measure, while Klutch is known for its concentration of stars. Forbes's estimate puts CAA at $1.143 billion and Klutch at $351 million, per The Big Lead, and the tracker lists about 90 CAA clients against 52 for Klutch. In the Excel Sports vs CAA basketball comparison, the two are close on client counts, 87 against about 90, per SalarySwish. No credible head-to-head analysis beyond these figures turned up, so the comparison here is limited to them.

What about Wasserman, WME, Priority and Octagon?

These four firms round out the field, and each has a distinct story. The Wasserman sports agency clients include Breanna Stewart through executive Lindsay Kagawa Colas, per the Sloan Sports Conference, which Part 3 covers. The WME sports basketball roster grew when WME bought out BDA Sports Management, led by Bill Duffy, and named clients included Luka Doncic, Scottie Barnes, Chet Holmgren and RJ Barrett, per Sportico. The WME basketball agent roster is listed at 57 clients by the tracker, per SalarySwish.

Priority Sports and Entertainment NBA work dates to 1985, when Mark Bartelstein founded the firm, per Wikipedia. The tracker lists 79 Priority Sports NBA clients. Octagon basketball agents include Alex Saratsis, who represents Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo, per his Invest in Sports bio, so the Octagon sports basketball players on that list are some of the league's best known. The tracker lists 36 Octagon clients.

Where do independent and boutique agencies fit?

Independent NBA basketball agents, and the boutique sports agencies basketball families read about, serve a smaller roster with direct attention from the principal. Jason Glushon is a good example. He worked at Wasserman from 2013, finished Loyola Law in 2016, and founded Glushon Sports Management, whose negotiations included Al Horford's $113 million maximum contract and Jrue Holiday's $150 million deal, per Loyola Law School. Another independent model is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who handles on-court matters himself after leaving his agency in February 2025, per Sports Illustrated. Both show that the market has room for many business models.

Agents notice that families new to the business often assume the biggest firm is automatically the best fit, when fit depends on the player and the agent's availability. The NBA agent guide explains the certification every one of these agents holds.

How should readers use these rankings?

Readers should use them to understand the market, not to choose a representative. Each measure here has limits: Forbes is an estimate, the tracker is undated, and agency ownership changes. Anyone who needs to check a specific agent's standing can use the NBPA's public directory, which listed 750 results on November 1, 2026, per the NBPA directory. The agent verification guide covers the college side.

To check one agent on paper rather than by ranking, the Agent Scorecard offers 15 checks and a scoring sheet.