There have been rumors surrounding LeBron James and his future with the Los Angeles Lakers for much of this offseason as the franchise has clearly made superstar guard Luka Doncic its centerpiece. Comments from agent Rich Paul really kickstarted the rumors, but there was also a social media post from the agent of Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, Misko Raznatovic, that got people talking as well.
The post saw Raznatovic on a yacht with James and his business partner Maverick Carter, which led many to wonder whether LeBron could be considering looking to join Jokic on the Nuggets considering the caption mentioned future plans. With LeBron being a free agent next summer it could be a possibility, however, it would be reported that the meeting had to do with outside business ventures, in particular a new startup basketball league of Carter’s.
And now Raznatovic has confirmed this to be the case as he said in an appearance on the 6.75range Podcast that Carter wants to start a new league to compete with the NBA and he was called to come on as a consultant, ultimately meeting with James on the yacht where they discussed how the league would come about:
“They are planning, a certain group of investors, classic business, to create a new league that would somehow also compete with the NBA. They don’t want it to be a U.S. league; they want it to have a European flavor, so to speak. And when they started working on it, everyone told them to call me. I spoke a few times with Maverick Carter, where I got an official role as a consultant. He said it would be best to meet for lunch on a boat where LeBron would also attend. We had that meeting where we talked a lot about the new league, how it would be built, and what would be done.”
There are very few athletes in the world who have a business portfolio even close to that of LeBron and while the idea of creating a basketball league to compete with the NBA seems a bit farfetched, if anyone could pull it off it might be him and his team. Partnering with a powerful international agent like Raznatovic makes a lot of sense and now it will be a matter of whether they can make this league a reality.
Of course, James remains focused currently on getting ready for this season with the Lakers, potentially his last with the franchise. But once his playing career is over he will have plenty of business ventures to keep him busy and this league could be another one.
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