Leon Rose

Leon Rose (born March 9, 1961) is an American basketball executive, attorney and sports agent. He serves as president of the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA), who won an NBA championship in 2026 during his tenure. As a sports agent, Rose represented a number of prominent NBA players, including Allen Iverson and LeBron James.

Early life Rose grew up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and attended Cherry Hill High School East, where he played basketball and was later inducted into the school's hall of fame. Rose graduated from Dickinson College, where he played on the basketball team. He earned his J.D. degree at Temple University Beasley School of Law while he worked as an assistant for the Cherry Hill High School East basketball team. From 1986 to 1988, he was an assistant for the Rutgers University–Camden basketball team under his former gym teacher.

Sports agent career Rose represented LeBron James from 2005 until 2012, when James left to join Klutch Sports, led by Rich Paul, who worked under Rose at Creative Artists Agency. Rose and fellow CAA agent Henry Thomas, who at the time represented the Heat's Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, worked together to bring the three players together on the Miami Heat in 2010. Rose orchestrated the Knicks' first NBA championship in 53 years in . He was widely lauded for building the team from scratch without benefit of a high draft pick, instead making trades and signing underappreciated players at the time but which turned out to be key moves to building a champion.

Clients Rose's previous clients include:

Carmelo Anthony, Renaldo Balkman, forward, Last NBA team: New York Knicks, 2010 Andrea Bargnani, forward/center, Last NBA team: Brooklyn Nets Devin Booker, guard, Phoenix Suns Omri Casspi, forward, Memphis Grizzlies Mardy Collins, center, Last NBA team: Charlotte Bobcats, 2013 Joel Embiid, center, Philadelphia 76ers Jonny Flynn, guard, Last NBA team: Portland Trail Blazers, 2010 Richard Hamilton,