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Lucky Me
Cover of Lucky Me
Lucky Me
A Memoir of Changing the Odds
by Rich Paul
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A memoir of will, success, and the luck we make—from the founder and CEO of Klutch Sports Group and one of the most influential figures in the multibillion-dollar sports industry
“One of the greatest stories of growing up in America’s ghettos and overcoming adversity.”—Jay-Z
 
“The minute I met Rich, I knew he was different.”—LeBron James, from the Foreword

A BET BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

There’s a story about Rich Paul that everyone knows: A twenty-one-year-old kid from Cleveland who sells sports jerseys out of his car meets a high school basketball phenom named LeBron James at an airport—the two become friends and forge a decades-long partnership that reinvents the business of sports. That random meeting might seem like the lucky break that changed Paul’s life. But a moment of good fortune means nothing without the struggle that gets you there. And the truth is, Paul had always been lucky.
Rich Paul became a gambler at an early age—his fast mind and gift for finding an edge made him a devastating dice roller who could hold his own with grown men, win big, and walk away alive. Shooting dice wasn’t just a pastime; it was a way to earn money for his family as his mother struggled under the weight of drug addiction. He learned the secret science of dice in the same place he found all the lessons of his young life: the corner store his father operated, the center of the neighborhood’s frantic action. Paul’s father had another family but kept his son close working at the store. Paul dreamed of becoming a star athlete, but the streets were where he thrived, building a lucrative enterprise on shaky ground. When he found himself at a dangerous crossroads, he summoned the teachings of his past to create a different future.
Readers will follow the riveting journey of a young Rich Paul narrated by the Paul of today, who looks back with wit and insight, drawing out the lessons he learned at every stage—about business, people, and the values that lead to success. It’s the inspiring story of the luck that’s all around us, if we know where to look.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A memoir of will, success, and the luck we make—from the founder and CEO of Klutch Sports Group and one of the most influential figures in the multibillion-dollar sports industry
“One of the greatest stories of growing up in America’s ghettos and overcoming adversity.”—Jay-Z
 
“The minute I met Rich, I knew he was different.”—LeBron James, from the Foreword

A BET BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

There’s a story about Rich Paul that everyone knows: A twenty-one-year-old kid from Cleveland who sells sports jerseys out of his car meets a high school basketball phenom named LeBron James at an airport—the two become friends and forge a decades-long partnership that reinvents the business of sports. That random meeting might seem like the lucky break that changed Paul’s life. But a moment of good fortune means nothing without the struggle that gets you there. And the truth is, Paul had always been lucky.
Rich Paul became a gambler at an early age—his fast mind and gift for finding an edge made him a devastating dice roller who could hold his own with grown men, win big, and walk away alive. Shooting dice wasn’t just a pastime; it was a way to earn money for his family as his mother struggled under the weight of drug addiction. He learned the secret science of dice in the same place he found all the lessons of his young life: the corner store his father operated, the center of the neighborhood’s frantic action. Paul’s father had another family but kept his son close working at the store. Paul dreamed of becoming a star athlete, but the streets were where he thrived, building a lucrative enterprise on shaky ground. When he found himself at a dangerous crossroads, he summoned the teachings of his past to create a different future.
Readers will follow the riveting journey of a young Rich Paul narrated by the Paul of today, who looks back with wit and insight, drawing out the lessons he learned at every stage—about business, people, and the values that lead to success. It’s the inspiring story of the luck that’s all around us, if we know where to look.
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  • From the cover 1

    R&J Confectionary



    My story begins in 1978, with a young woman walking toward the corner of 125th Street and Edmonton Avenue. She’s recently arrived in Cleveland from St. Louis, looking for a fresh start at age twenty-four. A beauty with chocolate skin, a body shaped like a Coke bottle, a walk that’s impossible to ignore, and a taste for the kind of street life her new city is known for. Her name is Minerva Norine Martin.

    There’s a store on the corner, and Minerva opens the door. She loves to dress, so she’s probably wearing a skirt and some pumps, a couple rings on her fingers, with her trademark dyed streak of blond in the front of her straightened hair. The small, narrow store is clean and well stocked. It has coolers with eggs, milk, cheese, soda, and beer. Shelves with candy, bread, chips, cereal, and baking soda. Cigarettes behind the counter. Some video games, big consoles almost as tall as the coolers, like Defender or Pac-Man. A coin-operated pay phone is attached to the wall.

    A man wearing a dress shirt and pleated slacks stands behind the counter. He worked his tail off to get there: Served in the army in Korea, sweated in a factory that made stamping machines, drove a jitney car, installed roofs, took some college courses in business administration, ran numbers, and had all kinds of other side hustles. It took him fifteen years to save up to buy the store’s building for twenty-five thousand dollars cash, which back then was major paper. The man has a natural mind for business, for what people need and how to sell it to them, whether that’s milk on credit or Acapulco Gold weed. Now he’s thirty-three years old and a pillar of the neighborhood as the owner of R&J Confectionary. The J comes from the name of his wife, Justine. The R stands for Richard—Richard Paul.

    Richard takes stock of Minerva. He knows everybody in the neighborhood and everybody knows him, but this is something new.

    “How you doing, sweetheart,” Richard says. “How can I help you?”

    “I’m fine, thank you. Y’all got Newports?”

    “For sure, baby. I never seen you around here before, where you from?”

    “St. Louis. We just moved in down the street.”

    “Welcome to the neighborhood. I’m here 24/7/365 for the most part, baby. We got an after-hours thing upstairs starting at ten, bring whoever you want. Just ask for Rich, you won’t have no problems. So what’s your name?”

    Their eyes lock. My future mother answers:

    “Peaches.”

    That’s what everybody called her: Peaches. Wasn’t much soft or sweet about her, though. My mom was a firecracker, the center of attention in every room, always ready to set the party off. She grew up in St. Louis, the fifth of eleven children born to Mickey and Ruth Martin. In a family that big you had to go for yours, so my mom learned at an early age to be aggressive. If she wanted something and none of her brothers or sisters could legitimately claim it, she’d grab on to it like a pit bull. But she was a giver, too, and loved her family to death. She enjoyed taking care of her younger siblings, so she learned early how to cook amazing meals for them. When she got older, it was nothing for her to whip up a whole Sunday dinner on a random Tuesday. She worked jobs from fast-food restaurants to nursing homes and always had something moving on the side. She sold clothes or shoes that she obtained from different places—don’t leave your winter coat at her house, it might end up in a yard sale that...
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A Memoir of Changing the Odds
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