Top sports agency hires Kevin Johnson, fires influential NBA agent Dan Fegan

A dramatic shake-up at one of the NBA’s top agencies hit the wire Friday afternoon. Kevin Johnson, the former mayor of Sacramento and All-Star for the Phoenix Suns, will be the new Vice Chairman of Independent Sports & Entertainment, the agency announced. In the process, the organization terminated well-known NBA agent Dan Fegan, who was the president of ISE Basketball.

Johnson, a two-term mayor who helped keep the Kings in Sacramento but also is accused of sexual misconduct, will work on “corporate vision and strategy” on a level above basketball. Chris Grancio, who previously worked at adidas, will serve in Fegan’s role on an interim basis.

“ISE’s announcement today was a big surprise, especially given that ISE offered me a long term lucrative contract just yesterday - which I rejected for several reasons, including my opposition to the current senior management structure,” Fegan said in a statement sent to SB Nation. “It is also surprising to hear through the media that ISE is planning to file a breach of contract lawsuit against me. Apparently, ISE is afraid that many of the agents and clients will want to follow me, and is doing everything in its power to prevent it. I am confident in my position and if a suit is filed I will fight vigorously to prove that ISE’s actions are wrong and misguided.”

Led by Fegan, ISE (formerly Relativity Sports) was and is one of the titans of the NBA world. Over the past decade, Fegan slowly established himself as one of the league’s preeminent agents. He was at the center of several marquee transactions, including the year-long Dwight Howard trade saga.

But Fegan’s reputation has taken a hit in recent years, and many of his top clients have left. In the summer of 2015, Fegan helped steer DeAndre Jordan to commit to the Dallas Mavericks, only for Jordan to change his mind and stay with the Los Angeles Clippers while icing Fegan out of the process. Jordan fired Fegan two months later, suggesting that Fegan pushed him to sign with Dallas due to Fegan’s tight relationship with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

Other top Fegan clients, including John Wall and even Howard himself, soon followed in Jordan’s footsteps.

Fegan still had a number of top NBA players, including New Orleans Pelicans center DeMarcus Cousins. After Cousins was traded to the Pelicans, Kings general manager Vlade Divac told the Sacramento Bee that Fegan and ISE Executive Vice President of Basketball, Jarinn Akana, scared teams into lowering their trade offers.

Fegan’s other top clients included Chandler Parsons and Ricky Rubio. It’s unclear whether they will stick with ISE going forward.