Team Benjammin' -- Supersonic Center Benoit Benjamin Surrounds Himself With Another Team

The NBA's Seattle SuperSonics are one kind of team.

"Team Benjammin," which is named for and represents Sonic center Benoit Benjamin, is another.

The Sonics measure success in terms of points scored, victories and defeats. Team Benjammin uses money, length of contract and endorsements as its benchmarks.

Benjamin is a key member of both.

The six-year veteran will realize a career-long goal when he makes his NBA playoff debut Friday against the Portland Trail Blazers.

While the Sonics will need an upset of planetary proportions against Portland to move into the ranks of the league's elite teams, Team Benjammin is already there.

When co-managers James Casey and Don King secured a five-year contract extension worth an estimated $20 million for Benjamin, he became one of the league's best-paid athletes.

Many observers thought Casey, a negotiating novice, would be easy prey for the Sonic front office before Benjamin signed his new deal. Profound silence followed the agreement.

"Doing a contract is not the hardest thing to do, especially if you know what you and your client want," said Casey, who is not an attorney. "It can be very simple. Fortunately, it happened quickly and smoothly. We got the type of numbers we wanted."

King is still the best known member of the team, but Casey, 38, a stocky, broad-shouldered Los Angeles native, is its most visible and vocal.

Casey said Benjamin asked him to be his manager after one of Benjamin's friends recruited the 7-footer for King's organization. That friend was boxer Mike Tyson.

"I met Mike several years ago in L.A.," Benjamin said. "I was happy and honored when he asked me to join his team."

Casey said Team Benjammin is a direct offshoot of boxing's Team Tyson, a King invention that manages the fortunes of the former heavyweight champion.

It's easy to spot members of Benjamin's team. They are the ones wearing bright-colored, leather jackets with "Team Benjammin" script across their backs at Sonic games.

The coats, which would retail for $1,200 to $1,300, are part of a line of clothing Benjamin designed and plans to sell.

"We have lawyers, accountants, financial planners, marketing experts, a head of security, someone else in charge of transportation and others," said Casey, reviewing his lineup. "Team Benjammin is the same operation as Team Tyson. Since we are under the same roof, we do similar things."

Like stir up controversy.

While dominating boxing for most of the past three decades, King has endured allegations of organized crime connections, massive conflicts of interest and mismanagement of clients, although nothing has been proven.

Now King and Casey have cloaked their appeal to potential non-boxing clients in terms of race.

King, who has yet to visit Seattle on Benjamin's behalf, has said African-American athletes need African-American representation. He complains that most of the NBA's players are African Americans, though only a handful of the agents are.

"Basically, we are black-oriented. We try to help our own," said Casey, who thinks the pact Benjamin signed with Seattle will attract other stars to the stable.

So far, only Benjamin and guard Gary Grant of the Los Angeles Clippers are with Team Benjammin.

"We may have opened the doors for other (African-American) businessmen who want to pursue careers as agents," Casey said. "Being one of the first black agents in the game to negotiate a contract of that magnitude is gratifying to me.

"I feel good behind it. Hopefully, other ballplayers will be able to see that we can negotiate those kind of numbers and might give us a chance."

Benjamin said he didn't sign with Casey/King because he had been mistreated by white agents. He just wanted a change and he wanted to work with his friends. "I was just looking for something different," Benjamin said. "Don King has a fine organization. I've learned a lot from them and I think the friendships and relationships we have can't be replaced."

Although several former King boxers have complained that they were charged exorbitant fees for training expenses, publicity and room and board, Benjamin said he's not worried about being ripped off or losing control of his money.

"I make all the decisions on everything," he said. "In the long run, that will be advantageous because I want to do everything on my own."

Casey says Team Benjammin's share of Benjamin's contract is limited by the league and players' union to 4 percent.

He believes charges King is dishonest are untrue and racially motivated.

"Anywhere you go, you are going to have to pay the cost," he said. "Whether it's the 4 percent or promotional fees or whatever it might be. Don is not the kind of person who would take anything away from anyone because he already has his.

"What would a couple of more hundred thousand do for him? It's not going to make him. It's not going to break him."