Since LeBron James' net worth is well over a billion dollars now, it's easy to see how he could parlay his on-court earnings, business ventures, and passion for basketball into NBA ownership someday. In fact, two years ago LeBron was already talking about
bringing a new franchise to Las Vegas someday. While it'd be pretty cool to see LeBron stay so prominent on the NBA scene whenever his marathon, all-time great career ends, it's not exactly a slam dunk that he'll thrive as an NBA owner. Or at least that's Mark Cuban's take. The man who made one of the better investments in the history of sports by purchasing the Mavs in 2000 sat down with Shannon Sharpe to explain why LeBron could have a rocky transition to ownership. Cuban cites the example of Michael Jordan struggling as an owner in Charlotte, and other former players who try their hands at various leadership positions once their playing career expires.
"It’s going to be a lot harder for a player. We saw Michael Jordan. Great guy, had some success, but not as much as he wanted. It's hard because players have one mindset, and they look at other players in a certain way. […] ’I'm Michael Jordan, I'm 55 years old, I'm gonna whoop you’re a**!’ […] It's just a completely different perspective that's hard to disconnect yourself from, and it's hard to be objective and not have your player mindset. "When you've seen general managers that were former players, they're not the great players that are good general managers. It's the role players that got to watch everybody else and understand how to fit these pieces together. And so for any superstar, it's going to be hard." https://twitter.com/ClubShayShay/status/1839499012250149153 Given how electric he was this past season for the Los Angeles Lakers, how dominant he was in
leading Team USA to the Olympic gold medal , and that NBA expansion is still a couple years off at least, LeBron has plenty of time to look at prospective ownership more closely and prepare himself before he takes the reins of his own team. However, there will be inevitable unanticipated challenges that arise, which will force LeBron to adapt just as he has to countless teammates in his career. If we can't agree on the MJ vs. LeBron GOAT debate, we can at least agree that one of them has a better mindset for being an NBA owner. And granted, that's with some revisionist history, but as competitive as LeBron is, MJ was to an alienating degree. He comes across more as somebody who'd tear teammates down and create a divide, only bridged by MJ's respect for said teammate's game or untamed competitive spirit. LeBron is more of a uniting force who embraces teammates and isn't a shoot-first player (despite being the leading scorer in NBA history, lol). There's also the chance that Fenway Sports Group, who LeBron is closely tied to, could buy the Boston Celtics. That could be a happy medium for LeBron to still have a significant stake in a team, but maybe enjoy the early part of his retirement a little more. Or perhaps that could be a stepping stone to The King eventually owning his own expansion franchise. If that's how things play out, LeBron could learn on the job for a while as a part owner, which only works to his advantage for long-term success. Perhaps because of his more risk-taking, relentless nature, MJ jumped into the deep end with the Bobcats/Hornets franchise, and we saw how that's turned out. I do see where Cuban is coming from, but a lot of LeBron's haters say he plays GM anyway. If there's any truth to that, maybe he does know a thing or two about who the right players are to bring in. This could lead to LeBron having too much control within an organization. Meddling ownership does not often end well. However, despite MJ's shortcomings in being too involved as an owner, I'd actually feel confident in LeBron having some say in personnel. If anyone could pull it off, it's him — and many people believe he's already a de facto GM. We're years out from any LeBron owner situation, but I'm more bullish than Cuban is on his chances of success — and think he could lap MJ's legacy at least in terms of ownership.
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