Recently, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James conned the NBA world into thinking he was retiring in a “decision” that instead turned out to be an ad for Hennessy. James has never been shy about leveraging his star power in the pursuit of making some extra cash, which is why some fans suspect he may be in on his high school friend Maverick Carter's involvement with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund's (PIF) new basketball league.
Brian Windhorst of ESPN reported that “Multiple player agents, current and former league executives and support staffers told ESPN they'd been recruited to join the league ahead of a possible 2026 launch and, in some cases, were required to sign NDAs.”
However, he also added that “James' representatives, including agent Rich Paul, told ESPN that James himself was not connected to the venture.”
Carter himself has also reportedly left the venture.
Still, that doesn't mean that James has zero stake in Saudi Arabia's developments in the sports world.
“James has developed a relationship with Saudi Arabian leaders and the PIF over the past few years, though. James held a clinic at Al-Azem Academy in Riyadh in 2023 as a guest of Saudi Minister of Culture Bader bin Farhan Al Saud,” reported Windhorst. “Last January, James became a team owner in E1, a global electric boat racing circuit that was launched by the PIF. Tom Brady and Rafael Nadal are also affiliated with teams in E1.”
A big business venture
Basketball has been expanding rapidly around the globe, so it makes sense that the Saudi Arabian government would want to get in on the action with American sports figures.
The NBA has already shown a willingness to promote its game in the Middle East, particularly with preseason games in Abu Dhabi.
Overall, it remains to be seen how much James will expand his off-court activities once he retires. However, thankfully for Lakers fans, it doesn't seem that will be happening anytime soon.
