LeBron James is an athlete at the top of his game, and now he wants to own the game. The Los Angeles Lakers forward expressed to reporters his desire to own a team on March 16. He had already just announced his part-ownership of the Boston Red Sox, when he was questioned about his future endeavors.
“Yeah, I’ve always said that. My goal is to own a team, own an NBA team,” James said after a Tuesday night victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. “I got so much to give to the game. I know what it takes to win at this level. I know talent. I also know how to run a business as well. And so, that is my goal. My goal is to own an NBA franchise, and it will be sooner than later.”
As active NBA players cannot own a team, the immediacy of James’ “sooner” is not clear. However that hasn’t stopped him from helping other players achieve their goals. James was a key figure in Renee Montgomery’s buy-in to the Atlanta Dream ownership group.
Montgomery credited James and his organization More Than A Vote for connecting her to the right people to achieve her dream of transitioning from the team player to a team owner, Yahoo Sports reported.
“I wouldn’t be talking to you guys if it weren’t for that group,” the two-time WNBA champion said. “They were just very welcoming in a sense of, ‘OK, yes, let me see what I can do.’ They constantly were there for me, and that’s what I think community looks like. … That’s what it’s all about. They all saw my vision and my passion behind it and they all wanted to help.”
James was able to help Montgomery gain a seat in the team ownership group during the Dream’s recent sale, which had been out of the ball player’s reach. That didn’t stop him from joining Fenway Sports Group as a partner, which provides him with an ownership stake in its holding that includes the Boston Red Sox, Liverpool Football Club, Roush Fenway Racing, and the regional sports network NESN, according to ESPN.
James had already owned 2 percent of Liverpool, the current champion of the English Premier League. In connecting with FSG and developing his investment, James and his business partner Maverick Carter will become the first Black partners of the company.
“I think for me and for my partner, Maverick, to be the first two Black men to be a part of that ownership group in the history of that franchise, I think it’s pretty damn cool,” James told reporters Tuesday. “It gives me and people that look like me hope and inspiration that they can be in a position like that as well, that it can be done. It gives my kids at my I Promise School more and more inspiration as well.”
Even so, those uncertain about James’ playing prospects may have nothing to worry about. James mentioned in a 2017 GQ interview that he’d love to keep playing until he could spar with his own son, LeBron James Jr. (Bronny), in the NBA.
“I don’t know if I could play washed, but I damn sure would love to stick around if my oldest son can have an opportunity to play against me. That’d be, that’d be the icing on the cake right there,” he told GQ.
Bronny plays high school basketball at Sierra Canyon in the Los Angeles area. Bronny’s skills on the court have been received positively by coaches, and his path to the NBA is not certain but is possible. As for LeBron, the earliest he could play with Bronny is the 2023-24 NBA season, which would make him 38. The oldest active NBA player is Udonis Haslem, who is now 40 years old.
