What Makes Danny Espiritu One of the Most Sought-After Player Agents in the Philippines?

What Aaron Goodwin is to Kai Sotto, that's what Danny Espiritu to numerous players in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA): a player agent. And even in his advanced age, he remains as one of the most sought after agents in the country and if we look at the numbers, Espiritu, as of March 2019, has already represented 78 PBA players. Danny Espritu is also serving as a consultant with Espiritu Manotoc Basketball Management (EMBM) where Danny's son, Marvin, is also working together with Matthew Manotoc, son of legendary PBA coach and Grand Slam winner, Tommy Maanotoc. Together, they continue to make EMBM as the biggest basketball management agency in the country. 

So, this begs the question: what makes Danny Espiritu one of the most-trusted player agents in the country?

It all started with his ability to get the best deal between the team and the player he is representing. For example, Bong Alvarez who only requested Espiritu to accompany him during a meeting with Alaska who at that time, was in the procedure to offer Alvarez a two-year contract. Apparently, Alvarez was okay with the offer but Espiritu wasn't and that the latter even asked for another meeting with the Alaska management and in that second meeting, Alvarez was offered an even bigger offer. In short, Danny Espiritu, even back then, was already good at negotiating what he thinks is the deal a player deserves to receive. And just like that, what Espiritu did for Alvarez spread like wildfire as the diehard fan of the Crispa Redmanizers wounded up receiving more requests from players who want to avail his services. 

But more than getting the best contracts and other perks for his clients, the way Danny Espiritu conducts business between his clients and the teams they're playing for, there's always transparency and all transactions were done in good faith- according to Espiritu himself. That's probably the biggest takeaway in his longevity in the industry. It's more than just money. It's about earning the respect of the coaches, the management and, the teammates of the clients he is representing for. 

Remember back in 2018 when then troubled forward, Raymond Almazan who was then playing for the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, suddenly dropped himself off the radar? Almazan is among Espiritu's clients. And it was Espiritu who kept the communication between the troubled player and his team open throughout the crisis.

As a player agent, you don't only deal with a player's financial interests. One of your responsibilities as an agent is to make sure that the player's best interests are protected. At the end of the day, it's the player who decides what they want to do and as an agent, one of your jobs is to advise the player with regards not just what is the best course of action to take but more importantly, he talks about the possible consequences. For the clients of Danny Espiritu,  the reason why they are still lining up even with his advanced age is that he always gets the job done. Always. Both on the court and yes, even off the court. That alone is what makes Danny Espiritu an institution to the PBA and to Philippine basketball. 

Photo is from SPIN.ph