ABOUT BEST

We Take Pride in Representing the Best Players—and the Best People Too.

BEST Basketball is built around the ideals and vision of president and founder Joel Bell. Joel believes his clients deserve four things from his agency:

To develop individual goals specific to each client
To keep clients informed about the current team and contract negotiations
To form a strong personal relationship with each client in order to fully understand their goals and objectives
To create individual programs for each client based on their one-of-a-kind characteristics and circumstances

This approach is unique in the industry and can only be achieved with close relationships with clients. That’s why BEST Basketball represents not only great athletes but great people, too.

Joel Bell

President, BEST Basketball

Since 1993, Joel Bell has closed approximately one billion dollars in contract negotiations for his clients. He has also negotiated shoe deals with almost every major shoe company, including Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Under Armour and Fila. He has a perfect 100% record for securing offer sheets for his restricted free agents, which is 80% higher than the average sports agent. He has achieved this through painstaking and exacting attention to statistical and financial analysis in every single contract negotiation.

Joel has represented several Top 5 draft picks, as well as many lottery and mid-1st round picks in various NBA Drafts. ESPN cited Joel as having negotiated the best NBA contract of the last decade, and negotiating the largest upfront payment ever received by a rookie. He has also represented top female athletes such as Katrina McClain and Sheryl Swoopes, working with Nike to create the Air Swoopes, the first shoe ever named for a female player.

Joel graduated from American University with degrees in economics and communications, and later received a Juris Doctor from the Duke University School of Law where he remains involved. In addition to prior work in the legal field as a business litigator, Joel has worked as a sports writer for American, Australian, and European magazines. He is also the former Director of International Events for the World Basketball League and was General Manager and coach for the minor-league basketball team the Illinois Express.

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Jonathan S. Blue

Chairman & Managing Director, Blue Equity, LLC,

Jonathan S. Blue is Chairman and Managing Director of Blue Equity, LLC, a private investment firm that serves as the holding company for domestic and international businesses. As Chairman of Blue Equity, Blue oversees all mergers and acquisitions, operations, development and divestiture of Blue Equity portfolio companies.

Blue Equity’s investment efforts and managerial capabilities are focused on the operation of a global and diversified portfolio including current and historical holdings in oil and gas, media, talent representation, sports and entertainment production, wine and spirits distillation and retailing, hospitality and several portfolio companies in the B to B and DTC distribution businesses including with a white box and private label focus.

Blue received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. A frequent public speaker, Blue has been profiled in many national and international publications. His ideas and views have been featured in The Wall Street Journal and New York Times. He has been interviewed on Bloomberg Television and CNBC.

Blue has served on numerous professional panels relating to private equity, mergers and acquisitions, sports and entertainment, family offices, and a variety of other business topics. Blue is actively involved in several civic and charitable organizations and has served on many high-profile non-profit boards.

Edward H. Harrison III

Vice President & Director of Business Development, Blue Equity

Edward H. Harrison III is the Vice President and Director of Business Development at Blue Equity and assists in the day to day activities in Louisville, Kentucky, as well as at Blue Equity’s various portfolio company locations.

He also helps with coordinating in-house deal flow and business development, while conducting industry research on potential and continuing projects. He plays a key role in sourcing and developing new investment opportunities, as well as participating in the ongoing management and development of the company’s current holdings.

In 2012, Harrison spent the latter half of the year in Kingston, Jamaica, helping oversee the daily operations of The Antilles Group Limited. In 2018, he spent two years developing and managing a boutique hotel in Tulum, Mexico.

Board Positions: Liquor Barn & Party Mart, Gilford-Johnson Flooring, Blue Equity Sports Television

Harrison has been with Blue Equity, LLC since June of 2012. Prior to that, he worked for Merrill Lynch and Crawford Investment Counsel in Atlanta, Georgia. Harrison earned his B.A. in Economics from Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.

David Levitch

Marketing & Analytics

David Levitch is a 2017 Cum Laude graduate of the University of Louisville, where he played basketball on several nationally ranked teams. David brings a great insight into basketball at the highest levels along with expertise on player training and development, thanks to his playing experience at Louisville under Rick Pitino and his current tenure as the head coach at North Oldham (KY) High School. David has unique experiences in creating mathematical models for sporting events that will benefits the analytics component of BEST Basketball, and also has marketing experience at a sales level that will aid in the endorsement market, an area where BEST Basketball already shines. A frequent speaker at events and media showcases.