Aaron Goodwin might be known as the longtime agent of Gary Payton, but in the future he may become associated with the likes of David Falk, Leigh Steinberg and Mark Steinberg, power brokers who became among the most powerful player agents in sports.

LeBron James, whose arrival to the NBA is perhaps the most anticipated ever in the sporting world, ended more than a year of speculation and rumor on Wednesday by choosing Goodwin to represent him.

Protecting LeBron's name

It's no secret that many people have been trying to cash in on the value of LeBron James' name. But Fred Nance, managing partner of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, which is advising James on legal matters, is aggressively pursuing those using his name without authorization. Every day, more than 1,000 items of James are available on the online auction site eBay, including dozens of high school and NBA replica jerseys bearing his name and number. Since many items are unauthorized, Nance has said "several hundred" cease-and-desist letters have been sent to merchants asking them to stop selling items bearing James' name and likeness. Monitoring is ongoing, Nance said. "If there's someone using his name and image without our approval, they will get the proverbial knock on the door from us sooner or later." One of the latest trends is individuals that claim to be representing LeBron, while pitching ideas for national endorsements to companies. "Then once they make the connection, they come to us saying they have a possible deal," Nance said. -- Darren Rovell

James, the 6-foot-8, 240-pound phenom from Akron, Ohio, became the most hyped prep star in the history of sports over these past two years, his high school games televised on pay-per-view and his every move chronicled by the national media. He is expected to be selected with the first pick overall in the upcoming NBA draft and should command record-breaking endorsement deals. Already, every major shoe and apparel company is courting the 18-year-old, and an endorsement deal could rank among the most lucrative in sports history.

Goodwin was "the best individual to guide me through some critical steps in my upcoming professional basketball career," James said in a statement released Wednesday.

As James' fans grew, as two of his high school games appeared on national television networks, including ESPN, and he appeared on the cover of national sports publications, the cash machine that he could become, generated what was arguably the toughest battle ever waged among sports agents for a single client.

"When LeBron's career is done, it doesn't matter as much how the general public chooses to remember me," said Goodwin, whose Goodwin Sports Management has offices in Oakland and Seattle. "I only really care about how LeBron and his family remember me."

Goodwin's work with James already has begun. The agent said he is close to announcing a memorabilia deal with a trading card company and already has received proposals from Reebok and adidas for LeBron's shoe and Nike is scheduled to make its first pitch for a shoe and apparel deal later this week. Goodwin declined to reveal how high the bidding had gone in the race among shoe companies, saying only, "It's not about who comes up with the highest dollar figure, it's about who has the best overall business plan for a long-term relationship." Such a deal is expected to yield James at least $6 million a year.

One of the reasons Goodwin says he was able to prevail in the race was because of his apparent interest over a two-year period -- since he first saw James in an AAU game in Berkeley, Calif.

"I came to most of the marquee games on his schedule," Goodwin said. "I think a lot of agents didn't realize how important it was for the family that they had a relationship with whoever was going to work with them. I didn't send a runner or a representative from my company to establish the relationship, I was putting in this effort myself."

The 42-year-old Goodwin didn't come out of nowhere. His current list of clients includes Payton, the Milwaukee Bucks guard, Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damon Stoudamire, Atlanta Hawks forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Philadelphia 76ers center Todd MacCulloch and Chicago Bulls guard Jamal Crawford. He used to represent Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce and New Jersey Nets guard Jason Kidd and is the former partner of Bill Duffy, whose marquee client in the upcoming draft is former Syracuse forward Carmelo Anthony.

Around the time Goodwin started following the progress of James, the longtime boyfriend of James' mother, Eddie Jackson, called Goodwin saying that they were in the process of looking at agents and Jackson wanted Goodwin to meet the family.

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Over time, Goodwin said, he developed a solid relationship with Jackson and James' mother Gloria. By late January, Goodwin's lead in the race to secure LeBron was said to be so large that many agents had stopped pursuing James.

"I never really saw myself as being the leader," Goodwin said. "There were so many agents interested and all I knew was that I was very committed to landing him as a client."

While Falk used his relationship with Michael Jordan, Leigh Steinberg used his with Steve Young as a launching pad to sign many other high-profile clients, Goodwin said he doesn't plan to get much bigger. Unlike Mark Steinberg, who represents Tiger Woods, Annika Sorenstam and Vince Carter, one big-name client will command a lot of his attention.

"Quality over quantity," Goodwin said. "I'm the busiest I've ever been. A client like LeBron only comes along once every lifetime."

Darren Rovell, who covers sports business for ESPN.com, can be reached at darren.rovell@espn3.com