No one, not even LeBron James, knows whether he’ll play basketball next year or not. But one thing he has consistently said is that he’d be interested in owning an NBA team at some point, specifically in Las Vegas.
He said this from the moment he joined the Lakers back in 2018 and LeBron asked NBA commissioner Adam Silver about the league expanding to Vegas back in 2022.
With the NBA’s Board of Governors set to vote on adding expansion teams in Las Vegas and Seattle this March, it appeared the table
was set for LeBron to accomplish his goal.
However, things can change.
After the Lakers’ win over the Rockets on Wednesday, he was asked whether he was still interested in owning a team and his tone has completely flipped.
This is a big change of heart from James. He has consistently expressed interests, so why the sudden change?
While LeBron has no ownership in an NBA team, he does own a part of the historic football club Liverpool. That investment has been a slam dunk for the king, and owning an NBA team, even at a low percentage, has proven to be a hot commodity.
Could the $7-$10 billion price range be too rich for him to get involved, even as a minority owner?
According to a report by Joe Vardon and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic, the Fenway Sports Group, which James has been involved with since 2011, does not plan on pursuing a bid for the potential Las Vegas NBA team. In the article, the estimated cost of an NBA expansion team was stated as one of the reasons they are not pursuing a bid.
If James’ partners are out, then maybe that’s why he is no longer enthused about NBA ownership in Sin City.
And who knows, maybe he changes his mind again, or the ownership group that wins the bid convinces him to come along.
This story is far from over, but as things stand, whenever Las Vegas begins playing in the NBA, LeBron looks more likely to be playing against them than to be seated in a suite as the team’s owner.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
