Former Clippers legal expert Nicole Duckett creates firm for athletes

Sporting activities Illustrated and Empower Onyx are putting the highlight on the assorted journeys of Black ladies across sports—from the veteran athletes, to up-and-coming stars, coaches, executives and more—in the sequence, Elle-evate: 100 Influential Black Gals in Sports activities.

Today’s generation of athletes are no longer just competitors, they are significantly more—they are organizations, commodities, makes. They are far more complex, with an understanding that there is extra to a legacy in sports than collecting championship rings, or signing substantial contracts or lucrative sneaker deals.

That is where by Nikki Duckett arrives in to engage in, navigating by the legalese and creatively advising her athlete customer base on the sort of conclusions that will enable them establish their legacies off the court docket. Assume of her organization, the Nikki Duckett Collective, as business enlargement for players. “I’m viewing athletes come to be CEO of their possess brand names,” Duckett suggests. “I recognized [that] the lacking piece to seriously assist these athletes take their professions and manufacturers to the subsequent stage is significant degree legal representation.”