#7 Sonny Vaccaro
This jock sniffing suspected pedarist has done more to professionalize amateur basketball and to undermine the college game than anyone else. He would be higher up on the list but he did most of his damage earlier in his career. Now he is more of crank than a real threat to anyone. He is the man who brought shoe money into college basketball (working for Nike, Adidas, and Reebok) and created the meat market summer camps with his legendary ABCD camp. He was a tireless advocate for players skipping college and heading straight for the pros until the NBA changed the rules, and lately has been advising 17 year olds with bad SAT scores to go to Europe to prepare for the NBA skipping college all together. Stop it you creepy old shoe salesman, just stop it. In an upcoming HBO Movie he will be played by James Gandolfini…nuff said.
The Lowlights:
- Began the first corporately sponsored summer camp for 13 and 14 year olds in the United States while working for Rebook.
- Was the first executive to sign players to shoe sponsorships before the played a minute in the NBA
- Encouraged and funded Ed O’Bannon’s lawsuit against EA Sports for using the likenesses of former players in their popular “March Madness” series
- Encouraged 17 year old Brandon Jennings and provided him representation for skipping college and playing a professional season in Italy before he was eligible for the NBA draft.
- Tirelessly advocates against the NCAA’s authority as a governing body, and exploits young basketball players jeopardizing their eligibility for the gratification of his own ego.
