Arn Herschel Tellem[1] (born February 21, 1954) is an American sports executive who is the vice chairman of the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
[22][1] He grew up on the Main Line[23] and became a sports junkie at age eight by playing APBA Baseball, a mail-order board game.
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.
[24] At 12, he found career inspiration from legendary Temple University basketball coach Harry Litwack, who answered a question -- "What's your favorite food?
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.
[1] In 2006, Wasserman Media Group acquired his NBA and Major League Baseball (MLB) player representation practices.
The following year he helped reliever Ed Farmer beat the Chicago White Sox in a landmark salary arbitration case.
[37] 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.
[38] In 1997, the five-year, $55 million deal Tellem made with the White Sox for Albert Belle changed the salary structure in baseball.
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.
[41] In 1996, Tellem made his mark as an NBA agent by circumventing that year's pro draft to maneuver 18-year-old Kobe Bryant to the Los Angeles Lakers.
[47] On April 29, 2013, his NBA client Jason Collins became the first active male in one of the four major North American team sports to announce he was gay.
[50] They met in 1974 while both were summer interns in Washington, D.C.[1] Nancy, a Cal junior from San Francisco, worked for Oakland congressman Ron Dellums.