As LeBron took to the court in China Thursday to do battle with the Clippers, his new agent found himself in a battle of his own.
The NCAA recently launched an investigation into whether Rich Paul, a longtime friend of James who became the basketball megastar's new agent last month, bestowed improper benefits to a rising Texas college hoops star.
Sources told Yahoo! Sports, who broke the story Wednesday, that the NCAA is conducting a "wide ranging probe" to determine whether or not Paul-who signed James to his new agency in September-played a role in University of Texas Longhorns guard Myck Kabongo's visit to Cleveland this spring, where the college hoops worked out for New York-based professional trainer Jerry Powell.
The question that college sports' governing body is trying to figure out is who paid for Kabongo's travel and expenses and whether Powell's training was given to the Longhorns star for free.
If the NCAA finds that Kabongo, who was named to college coaches' preseason All-Big 12 first team, received improper benefits, the college standout could be declared ineligible for college play.
Paul, a long-time friend of the Miami Heat superstar, met Kabongo through two of his clients, former Longhorns Tristan Thompson and Cory Joseph, reported Gant Daily.com, who also noted that Thompson, Joseph and Kabongo hailed from Toronto and attended Findlay Prep in Henderson, Nevada.
Texas spokesman Scott McConnell told ESPN that Kabongo spoke with investigators but is in school and practicing with the team. Kabongo has not been declared ineligible and the school compliance department is communicating with the NCAA, McConnell added.
"At the end of the day, here's the main thing, it's no crime to have a relationship with the kid," Paul told Yahoo Sports. "Of course I know Myck through Tristan and Cory. I haven't been contacted by the NCAA and I wouldn't put a kid in harm's way."
Paul surprised many in the pro hoops world when he landed James, coming off an NBA 2011-12 season that netted him both the league's MVP trophy and his first NBA title with the Miami Heat, to his newly formed agency. James was previously contracted with Creative Artists Agency, credited by some with organizing the Heat's landing of James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami during the 2010 offseason.
Meanwhile, James and the Heat were busy Thursday when they beat the star-studded Los Angeles Clippers, 94-80 during a widely touted exhibition game in Beijing, China.
In an interview scheduled to air soon on CNN's Talk China, James noted the love for the game that the people in China displayed.
"Here in China they haven't seen the game up close and personal the way we have in the States," he said.
"They're always excited about the game, no matter where it's played, no matter how it's played, what level it's played at and you can have a great deal of respect for that," he added.