Carmelo Anthony has fired agent Calvin Andrews and will sign with Creative Artists Agency, according to an industry source.
Bill Duffy, Andrews’ boss at Bill Duffy Associates, and Leon Rose, CAA’s renowned basketball agent, were not immediately available for comment.
Rose is a close friend and business associate of William Wesley, aka “Worldwide Wes,” the basketball power broker who maintains a close relationship with CAA’s biggest sports client, LeBron James.
Other CAA clients include Allen Iverson, Tony Parker, Derek Jeter, Peyton Manning and Sidney Crosby.
Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt and Nicole Kidman are among the Hollywood stars repped by CAA.
Anthony’s wife, LaLa Vaquez, is a former MTV VJ and now a blogger for Latina magazine and judge of the VH1 show “Charm School.” She will also join CAA as part of the deal, the source said.
“They are multitasking,” James told USA Today in 2007, referring to CAA. “They’re not just in the sports world, they are into movies and a lot of other ventures, so at the end of the day it’s going to be great. CAA is going to definitely impact my marketing, impact my business and impact a lot of things we do.”
Both Jeter and Rip Hamilton of the Detroit Pistons praised CAA’s diversity in the USA Today story.
“They’ve got so many opportunities,” Hamilton said.
Jeter added: “If there is something you want to do, you are able to do it because they know so many people. They’re always working. They’re always doing things.”
A year ago, Darren Rovell of CNBC Sports cited an email from Anthony indicating that he was looking for a new marketing firm to handle sponsorships and endorsements. “Consistent with my announcement on Sunday, March 16, 2008, I have terminated BDA Sports and its marketing group from all future marketing and PR efforts; however, I have retained Calvin Andrews as my agent. Anthony is currently in the process of searching for a new marketing firm to be the lead in marketing, sponsorships, and endorsements, but confirms that any agreement with the new firm will be on a non-exclusive basis.” Anthony then moved to Tease Marketing, the agency of Theresa Tran.