Billionaire Boys Club – Lebron James

After watching the NBA Draft on Thursday, one of the big trades of the night was the trade that sent Richard Jefferson to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons. ESPN also reported that the trade supported the rumours of Lebron James possibly landing with the Nets in 2010 (when Lebron is eligible for free agency). I haven’t even heard of this rumour until that night, so it sparked me to do some research.

Check this Lebron James quote from Dec. 10, 2005 - Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

In the next 15 or 20 years, I hope I'll be the richest man in the world. That's one of my goals. I want to be a billionaire. I want to get to a position where generation on generation don't have to worry about nothing. I don't want family members from my kids to my son's kids to never have to worry. And I can't do that now just playing basketball.

Lebron + Jay-Z + Brooklyn = Kings of NY
It’s no secret that Lebron James, one of the biggest NBA icons today and Jay-Z, one of hip hop’s biggest icons (and part owner of the New Jersey Nets) are tight. They host an event together around All-Star weekend and call it the “Two Kings” party. If you put these two in New York, it will fall in lines with the LRMR Marketing’s vision: “....developing and executing successful partnerships between brands and the world’s most recognized talent.....”

What is LRMR Marketing?
I was reading an issue of SLAM magazine (Issue 116, April ‘08) and read the article on Lebron and how Lebron had fired his agent and decided to take high school friends/teammates to be his representation, creating Lebron's LRMR Marketing. Check out LRMRmarketing.com, this points to their website for Lebron’s own sports marketing/branding company. Just take a look at the Methodology section of his company’s site; they plan to do big things by “uniting entities that will benefit from mutual engagement.” Lebron, Jay-Z, New York and Nike....put them together and they will spell......dollar signs. Lebron’s Nike contract could skyrocket if Lebron heads to NY. If Lebron lands in a huge market like LA or New York, his Nike contract could probably double, leading him closer to that billion dollar goal.

The evidence is there...... articles about the Nets trying to clear up cap space, they unleashed Jason Kidd and now Richard Jefferson is off to Milwaukee for young talent, and draft picks. Even when Lebron signed his contract with Cleveland, he opted for the shorter contract instead of the long-term contract with more money. If Cleveland can’t provide Lebron with the supporting cast that is championship calibre and Jay-Z and the Nets execs can get him that championship cast, it looks like there’s no doubt Lebron will be sporting the Brooklyn Nets jersey.

What better way to introduce the Brooklyn Nets than with Jay-Z in the front office and Lebron James as your star athlete.....possibly bringing a long awaited championship trophy to the Mecca of basketball, New York.