Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
LeBron James’ longtime business partner has been laying the groundwork to grow the basketball superstar’s business when he steps away from the game. In an appearance at last week’s Semafor World Economy gathering, Maverick Carter said that changes in the tech and media landscape allowed James some flexibility in terms of his next moves once he retires — which could be as soon as later this month, if the Lakers fall to the Houston Rockets in the first round of the NBA playoffs, or after next season.
Carter told Semafor that 15 or 20 years ago, James’ primary option for remaining in the public eye would’ve been a career in sports broadcasting. But the evolution of digital media has allowed Carter and James to build up their independent entertainment business. “We have a team of people that can produce and create at a high caliber,” Carter said. “So he is actually going to come to us with what his vision is. How does he want to keep creating content and telling stories that connect with his fans? And how do we build a suite of shows around that? And then the beauty of it is, today, distribution is everywhere. So someone like LeBron’s caliber is a big draw. You can get distribution anywhere and really connect with people and build a show, just us, without anybody else.”
The emerging global basketball league currently known as Project B, which has already signed several top women’s players, is now eyeing the men’s game. And LeBron James’ right-hand man is involved. Grady Burnett, one of Project B’s co-founders, told The Athletic Tuesday that the new league plans on “extending the careers of established players” when it launches next fall and is also working once again with Maverick Carter, a longtime friend and business partner of James. Carter, 44, who oversees day-to-day operations of James’ businesses, had been a consultant for Project B until this fall but is now back in the fold as an adviser and board director, Burnett said.
An NBA source close to James said the global superstar currently has “zero” involvement in Project B. The source, who was granted anonymity to speak freely about James’ plans, said LeBron is “focused on finishing his last years in the NBA,” and when his NBA career is over, he “will turn his focus elsewhere if he chooses.”
While the new global basketball venture is moving forward, people with NBA backgrounds have interviewed for jobs in the new league, multiple league sources told The Athletic. It was not immediately clear why Carter is no longer a part of the group or when the split occurred, but a league source said Carter was taking meetings about a new league as late as last week. The Athletic has also identified at least three people with backgrounds in the NBA who have interviewed for jobs in the league.
Advertisement
Maverick Carter is no longer involved with the planned international basketball league that aims to disrupt the sport, multiple sources told Front Office Sports. “Project B,” as it has been called behind the scenes for nearly two years, still plans to launch next fall with 5-on-5 men’s and women’s basketball leagues. Led by Skype cofounder Geoff Prentice and former Facebook executive Grady Burnett, the investor group also includes tennis stars Novak Djokovic and Sloane Stephens; former WNBA stars Candace Parker, Alana Beard, and Lauren Jackson; and ex-NFL quarterback Steve Young. The group would not yet disclose the official name for the planned league.
ESPN Podcasts: "The group of investors want to create a league that would compete with the NBA. They don't want it to be a US league, they want it to have a European flavor." @WindhorstESPN , @TimBontemps & @espn_macmahon on LeBron James and Maverick Carter planning to form a new international basketball league, which plans to launch in fall 2026 👀
Private equity firm BC Partners had been in talks late last year to invest in EuroLeague, but those talks ran aground as the NBA’s ambitions in the region became clearer. A separate plan to create a new competition straddling Europe and Asia — spearheaded by Maverick Carter, business partner of basketball superstar LeBron James — has also been gaining support from backers.
A proposed international league described as the F1 of basketball gained attention over the weekend when Misko Raznatovic, the agent for Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, posted a photo on Instagram of him meeting in shorts and bare feet with LeBron James and the Lakers star's business partner Maverick Carter on a yacht off the coast of the French Riviera.
Raznatovic accompanied the photo with an intriguing comment: "The summer of 2025 is the perfect time to make big plans for the fall of 2026! @kingjames @mavcarter The post triggered speculation that perhaps James and Jokic could team up on either the Lakers or Nuggets, but more likely it suggests James has more than a peripheral interest in the new league. Front Office Sports reported in January that Carter was advising a group of investors trying to raise $5 billion to jump-start the league but that James wasn't involved. That may have changed.
Advertisement
So what's the league about? Early discussions are of a touring model with six men’s and six women’s teams playing in eight cities, none of which is likely to be in the United States. Investors include the Singapore government, SC Holdings, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, a Macau casino operator, UBS, Skype founder Geoff Prentice and former Facebook executive Grady Burnett, according to the Financial Times. Reports have linked VC firm Quiet Capital, tech investor Byron Deeter and Hong Kong-based Galaxy Entertainment to the effort.
The mysterious boat meeting last week in France between LeBron James, his business partner Maverick Carter, and Nikola Jokić’s European agent was about the planned international basketball league being spearheaded by Carter, multiple sources tell Front Office Sports. The photo, posted to Instagram over the weekend by Jokić’s European agent Miško Ražnatović, caused speculation about whether the trio was talking about James joining the Nuggets or Jokić joining the Lakers. Sources familiar with the situation tell FOS it was not about the Nuggets or Lakers.
Zach Lowe on LeBron's picture with agent Misko Raznatovic: I would just say — if there are any plans that are actually being planned or talked about, with whatever date you want to put on it — 'big plans for the fall of 2026,' is what it said — I don’t think I would look toward the NBA as what that plan might be about. And that's all I’ll say about that." "And then, thing number three: it's kind of about the NBA. But I would not read anything into this Instagram post — I certainly would not read anything into LeBron's future with the Lakers or another team in the NBA — as he enters his, whatever, 23rd season, whatever crazy number it is."