I ran across an interesing article in the Wall Street Journal last Friday (April 11th, Hannah Karp) that revolved around how professional athletes are structuring their personal entourages into professional corporations.

It's common knowledge that the money in professional sports attracts all kinds of people who are either looking for handouts or just want to be a part of action. Hannah did a great job of breaking down how athletes like boxers Floyd Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya, to NBA superstars such as Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony, & Atlanta Hawks point guard Mike Bibby are running their "teams" like corporate organizations with personal assistants who keep track of their schedules, field request, run errands, to head of security who keep potential trouble at bay.

These "personal assistants" earn from 30,000 to 50,000 which is not bad.  One interesting note in that article was Oscar De La Hoya "trimmed" over $400,000 in expenses such as food, travel, and housing by dropping 10 entourage members.

Hannah goes on to state that MC Hammer burned thru over 30 million dollars in part by maintaining and supporting a 200 person entourage.

Another interesting point that was made was how athletes like Ron Artest had to fire team members who didn't perform up to expectations.

As the money get bigger and bigger and the media spotlight burns brighter and brighter it becomes more important that athetes surround themselves with forces that will be an asset instead of a liability.

Be sure to check into the blog section weekly for "The Eye of the Storm" by Hurricane Forest Godwin and Barry Q. Barnes.