Arn Tellem

Years later, for luck on his wedding night, he propped his treasured 1938 Hank Greenberg APBA card on the nightstand next to the conjugal bed.

At 12, he found career inspiration from legendary Temple University basketball coach Harry Litwack, who answered a question -- "What's your favorite food?"—that young Arn had phoned in to a local radio station.

Arn Herschel Tellem (born February 21, 1954) is an American sports executive who is the vice chairman of the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

He graduated from Haverford College in 1976 and from the University of Michigan Law School in 1979.

He began his career as an attorney in the law firm then known as Manatt, Phelps, Rothenberg & Tunney, where his mentors were sports attorneys Alan Rothenberg and Steve Greenberg (son of Hank Greenberg).

Tellem specialized in sports law and commercial litigation and became a partner in the firm.

From 1981 to 2015, he was a sports agent best known for his representation of basketball and baseball players.

Tellem was vice chairman of the Wasserman Media Group, a global sport and entertainment marketing agency headed by Casey Wasserman.

In 1981, Tellem signed his first athlete, pitcher Mark Langston.

The following year he helped reliever Ed Farmer beat the Chicago White Sox in a landmark salary arbitration case.

He began representing baseball players and also served six seasons (1982–1989) as general counsel of the San Diego Clippers, and was instrumental in the franchise's move to Los Angeles in 1984.

In 1989, he launched his own sports agency, Tellem and Associates.

After Langston turned free agent in 1989, Tellem engineered a record five-year, $16 million deal with the California Angels.

In 1994, he convinced the Angels to sign journeyman Rex Hudler for the league minimum, inserting an innovative incentive clause into the contract: $1,000 for every plate appearance.

In 1995, he found the "voluntary retirement" loophole in Hideo Nomo's contract that allowed the veteran pitcher to leave Japan and sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In 1997, the five-year, $55 million deal Tellem made with the White Sox for Albert Belle changed the salary structure in baseball.

In 1999, SFX Entertainment purchased the agency and later named Tellem chief executive of SFX Sports.

When Belle opted out of the contract in 1999, Tellem orchestrated a new five-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles worth $65 million.

He also cobbled together contracts of six years and $88.5 million for Mussina in 2001; seven years and $120 million for Giambi in 2002; four years and $52 million for Matsui in 2004; and, in 2007, Chase Utley's seven-year, $85 million arbitration contract with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Utley's pact was then the largest and longest ever given to a second baseman, and the most lucrative in Phillies history.

In 2004 and 2005, Tellem was the only NBA player agent named to The Sporting News "50 Most Influential People in Sports Business" and was recognized as the industry's top agent by the magazine in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.

In 2006, Wasserman Media Group acquired his NBA and Major League Baseball (MLB) player representation practices.

Tellem became the President of WMG Management as part of the deal.

He brought along a client base of about 50 NBA and 50 MLB clients, including Tracy McGrady, Jermaine O'Neal, Pau Gasol, Jason Giambi, Hideki Matsui, Nomar Garciaparra and Mike Mussina.

Tellem is certified as an agent by the Major League Baseball Players Association and the National Basketball Players Association, and is a member of the American Bar Association and the State Bar of California.

He was an adjunct professor of law at the University of Southern California School of Law, and is on the board of directors of Peace Players International and Seeds of Peace, organizations that bring together kids from conflict regions around the world to promote tolerance and understanding among the youth in those hot spots.

As a player agent, Tellem negotiated numerous high-profile contracts for NBA and MLB players.

He oversaw WMG's athlete representation businesses and was involved in the strategic direction of the company.

In 2006, Sports Business Journal named Tellem the Most Influential Agent in Sports and The Sporting News named Tellem "Most Influential Sports Agent."

In 2008, Sports Business Journal ranked him second among sports agents.

Two years later Business Insider named Tellem one of the world's four "best" sports agents.

From 2009 to 2010, he wrote a semi-weekly sports column for The Huffington Post.

He has also written for Sports Illustrated, the op-ed page of The New York Times, Grantland, Detroit Free Press, The Hollywood Reporter, The Japan Times and The Detroit News.

Tellem was born to a Jewish family and is a native of Philadelphia.

His mother named him after a brave knight in the Prince Valiant comic strip.

He grew up on the Main Line and became a sports junkie at age eight by playing APBA Baseball, a mail-order board game.

In December 2011, hedge-fund manager Steven A. Cohen enlisted Tellem as a partner in a bid to buy the Dodgers.

In 2012, following an around-the-clock negotiating session, he and the Texas Rangers agreed to a six-year, $60 million deadline deal with Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish.

In March 2012, a group fronted by Magic Johnson outbid them.

In 2013, Forbes ranked Tellem the third most powerful agent in sports; and first in basketball.