Austin Walton is an attorney and American sports agent who represents players in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

. He is the CEO and founder of NEXT SPORTS Agency, who represents

Bones Hyland Nah'Shon "Bones" Hyland (born September 14, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the VCU Rams before being drafted 26th ove ...

;

Dean Wade Dean Jackson Wade (born November 20, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Kansas State Wildcats. Early life Wade was bo ...

; Aaron Wiggins;

Kent Bazemore Kenneth Lamont "Kent" Bazemore Jr. (born July 1, 1989) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a junior at Old Dominion University in 2010–11, Ba ...

;

Dereon Seabron Dereon Seabron (born May 26, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Birmingham Squadron of the NBA G League. He played college b ...

and

Jared Rhoden Matthew Jared Rhoden (born August 27, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Motor City Cruise of the NBA G League. He played college ...

of the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

;

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

; Oklahoma City Thunder; Sacramento Kings;

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division and play their hom ...

and Portland Trail Blazers.

Early life

Walton was born in

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

. He attended the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...

earning a bachelor's degree in Business Administration, majoring in marketing. He attained a Master of Science degree in Sports Administration from Valparaiso University, and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

(J.D.) degree from

South Texas College of Law South Texas College of Law Houston (STCL or South Texas) is a private law school in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1923, it is accredited by the American Bar Association. South Texas College of Law Houston is the oldest law school in the city of ...

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Career

Walton started a sports management company, Walton Sports Management Group, in 2009, becoming one of the youngest CEOs of a basketball agency at the time.

Andrew Goudelock Andrew Darius Goudelock (born December 7, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for Bilbao Basket of the Liga ACB. Standing at , he plays the shooting guard position. He played college basketball for the Charleston Cougars and was ...

, the 46th overall pick in the

2011 NBA draft The 2011 NBA draft was held on June 23, 2011, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The draft started at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (23:00 UTC), and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. Kia Motors was the presenting sponsor ...

was Walton's first client. Walton has represented basketball players including NBA and international players. Most notably, he is known as being the agent for

. Bazemore came into the NBA as an undrafted rookie, playing with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors summer league teams, eventually signing with the Golden State Warriors. On July 1, 2016, Walton negotiated a $70 million contract over 4 years for Bazemore. The contract made Bazemore the highest paid undrafted player in the history of the NBA. In March 2016, ESPN writer Ethan Sherwood Strauss published a story about how

Under Armour Under Armour, Inc. is an American sports equipment company that manufactures footwear, sports and casual apparel. Under Armour's global headquarters are located in Baltimore, Maryland, with additional offices located in Amsterdam (European hea ...

successfully signed away

Stephen Curry Wardell Stephen Curry II ( ; born March 14, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, ...

from Nike in the 2013 offseason, and revealed that Bazemore played a significant role in the signing. Austin is currently CEO of NEXT SPORTS Agency, representing several NBA athletes.

References

External links

NEXT SPORTS Agency
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walton, Austin Living people Lawyers from Atlanta American sports agents Year of birth missing (living people)