LeBron James on NBA team ownership: ‘I’m going to do that s—t’

LeBron James is the most famous athlete in the NBA, and in addition to his salary from the Los Angeles Lakers, has a record deal with Nike worth a reported billion dollars. NBA teams are worth north of a billion dollars these days, but it seems as though James could be one of the next major former players to own team.

James has even said that is his goal.

Speaking to The Athletic’s Joe Vardon, James said that he is absolutely going to make team ownership happen once he has retired.

“Ain’t no maybe about it, I’m going to do that shit,” James told Vardon.

Meanwhile, Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson thinks James would be good for the game.

Via The Athletic:

“Having Michael in Charlotte is great and it’s special, but we need more,” Magic said. “LeBron would be outstanding as the second player to be an owner in our league. We need more African-Americans, for sure, and LeBron would just be fantastic to become the next owner — after he leads the Lakers to an NBA championship, of course.”

James has a considerable investment portfolio, and reportedly has a net worth of $450 million, according to Forbes.

It would take more than James’s money to purchase an NBA team, but he would likely be the primary investor in any bid for whichever team comes across his radar as the right move.

James isn’t going to be leaving the NBA in the near future, but retirement isn’t off the table sometime in the coming decade. Whenever that happens, apparently we will be looking for him to become an owner right away.