Is Sonny Vaccaro Basketball's Version of Rasputin?

Visionary, schmoozer, crusader, master manipulator - the 69-year-old former basketball tournament organizer and shoe marketing executive with been called them all.
His creations are legion, his vast influence undeniable: Vaccaro formed the first national all-star game in 1965, first paid college basketball coaches for exclusive apparel deals and signed Michael Jordan to Nike in the early 80s. As a trusted adviser to nearly every high schooler that successfully jumped to the NBA, Vaccaro has helped Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James amass droves of wealth by securing endorsement deals and lucrative contacts. He claims he never took a cut. The NBA barred such jumps in 2005, saying it needed more mature entrees. Vaccaro has called the rule a sham, accusing the league of funneling players into the "The Machine," or N.C.A.A, to exploit them. Instead, the money should go to the players directly, he told ESPN Magazine in 2002. "Amateurism lost its virginity a long time ago," he told USA Today in May. Vaccaro today rails against the entities that made his career - the NCAA and NBA - on a college lecture circuit including the likes of Harvard, Yale, Columbia. As he works toward his ultimate goal of destroying the NBA's age-limit legislation, basketball's arch-influencer has cast his eye toward a new horizon. In Europe, he sees a destination for America's top-flight prep talent, now for the short-term, but one day possibly for much longer.

P.S. The above was written as a sidebar for an upcoming article I'm writing about how high school basketball players' circumventing college for Europe may affect Arkansas. It's not going in, though - my editor and I have decided to not focus so much on Sonny.