-
Shams Charania, senior NBA expert
Maverick Carter, LeBron James’ business manager, has been hired as an advisor by a group of investors seeking to raise $5 billion to form an international basketball league that will serve as a rival to the NBA, sources told ESPN, confirming a story reported by first time. Thursday by Bloomberg.
The group, which includes multiple private equity funds, is seeking to form a league comprised of six men’s teams and six women’s teams, playing games around the world, sources told ESPN.
Although Carter, who has worked as a producer on more than one of James’ film and television projects, is closely linked to the Los Angeles Lakers star, sources told ESPN that James is not involved in this new league’s efforts. .
James, whose current contract with the Lakers includes a player option for the 2025-26 season, has expressed interest in becoming an NBA owner once his playing career comes to an end.
Bloomberg reported that the investment group could try to tap private equity and sovereign funds to raise the $5 billion it seeks. Currently, private equity funds are limited to a 20% stake in NBA teams and cannot perform governance functions.
The NBA hasn’t faced a major rival 5-on-5 league since the 1970s, when it merged with the short-lived American Basketball Association and absorbed four of its teams: the Pacers, Nets, Nuggets and Spurs. The WNBA was beaten in market by the rival American Basketball League in the 1990s, although that league folded after two and a half seasons.
This season, she is starting a new women’s 3-on-3 league, Unrivaled, and has filled her rosters with many of the WNBA’s biggest stars, although rookie sensation Caitlin Clark decided not to participate.
