LeBron James has had a busy offseason in the time after winning the NBA title with the Los Angeles Lakers only a few weeks ago in October.
Shortly after claiming his fourth championship and Finals MVP Award, the 35-year-old All-Star continued campaigning for social justice ahead of the U.S presidential election. James produced and promoted the newest episode of “The Shop” featuring former president Barack Obama, which urged minority voters to sign up and cast their ballots in November.
And now, the NBA superstar appears to be involved in legal proceedings over trademark rights to his “King James” nickname. According to trademark lawyer Josh Gerben, James opposed an application for the name filed by cruise operator Carnival Cruise Line, owned by Carnival Corporation:
LeBron James has blocked Carnival Cruise Line's attempt to register a trademark for KING JAMES.
Carnival's trademark filing indicated it wanted to use KING JAMES as the name of a ship.
LeBron filed a formal opposition to the application last week. ????#KingJames#LeBronJames pic.twitter.com/UPgQokkgiW
— Josh Gerben (@JoshGerben) November 25, 2020
Carnival Corporation’s British entity, Carnival plc, is named as the “applicant” in the documents. However, Carnival operates as a dual-listed company with its two entities functioning as a single operating business.
Interestingly, Carnival Corporation’s chairman Micky Arison owns the Miami Heat, with whom James won two NBA titles in 2012 and 2013. Of course, James also helped the Lakers defeat Miami in the 2020 NBA Finals, claiming his first championship with the franchise.
Meanwhile, James has already reported back to training ahead of the start of the 2020-21 campaign. The preseason begins on Dec. 11 with the Lakers facing the L.A. Clippers in the first of the four scheduled exhibition games.
The season kicks off on Dec. 22; the NBA is yet to release its schedule.
Montrezl Harrell scrimmages with James and other Lakers teammates
James is returning to a much different Laker team after the front office carried out a roster reshuffle in the offseason. Montrezl Harrell, Dennis Schroder, Marc Gasol and Wes Matthews are among the recruits who have joined the NBA champions.
And Harrell, arguably L.A’s most dazzling free agency signing, has already been practicing with his new teammates. In an Instagram video, last season’s Sixth Man of the Year is seen performing training camp drills alongside James, Alex Caruso, and other NBA stars, including Chris Paul.
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