LeBron James: future NBA owner of a Las Vegas franchise? He hopes so.
LeBron James is entering season No. 21 in the NBA, and he’s understandably starting to think about life after basketball. James, who turns 39 years old in Dec., already has a ton of operating business interests, most notably with his production company SpringHill Entertainment.
It’s widely known that James wants to play with his son Bronny before he retires from the game. Now James’ first big post-retirement plan is starting to get real attention.
James hopes to own an NBA team in Las Vegas after he retires. He spoke about why he wants to own a team in Vegas during his post-game interview following the Los Angeles Lakers’ preseason win over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday.
“I think it’s only a matter of time, and I hope I’m part of that time,” James said when asked about NBA expansion in Vegas.
The NBA has said it will consider expansion again after the league re-ups its TV deal in 2025. There’s already planning for a new basketball arena in Las Vegas underway that hopes to open in 2026. The league has plenty of ties to Vegas already: it hosts its annual summer league there, the U.S. national team practices there, and it has hosted All-Star Weekend before.
It seems like it’s only a matter of time before there are two new NBA expansion teams in Las Vegas and Seattle.
James sent out this tweet as his post-game comments started to circulate.
James is no stranger to owning sports teams already: he has equity in the Fenway Sports Group that owns the Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Liverpool FC.
Michael Jordan made huge money buying and selling an NBA team. LeBron is next in line.
