In the past couple of years, we’ve seen several new basketball leagues being established and building their own brands. The BIG3 and the Unrivaled league are pretty good examples of that. While both leagues have made a name for themselves within the hoops world, they are not comparable to the NBA. The BIG3 reported a revenue of $13.5 million in 2024 while Unrivaled is valued at at $340 million after a Series B funding round in September 2025.

Both competitions are 3v3 compared to the traditional 5v5 format. And while these leagues do not hold a candle in front of the NBA as far as financials are considered, the Adam Silver-led league may be about to receive some heavy competition. A group of investors advised by Maverick Carter are reportedly seeking somewhere around $5 billion from private sources to form an international basketball league that could rival the NBA.

While this information on its own is quite exciting and interesting, what makes this even more interesting is the fact that Carter is a close aide of none other than Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James. This leads many to believe that the four-time NBA champion might be involved in this massive project. But is that the truth?

Is LeBron James part of the project?

Well, as things stand right now with the league’s project being in the initial phase, it’s pretty hard to tell. However, it’s worth noting that James and Carter go way back, as the two are not only high-school buddies but also long-time business partners. This indicates that it’s impossible that the Lakers’ superstar does not know about the project. In fact, while speaking on the Hoop Collective podcast, ESPN analyst Brian Windhorst revealed that the 40-year-old is among the investors in the league.

This came to light after the Akron native was spotted hanging out with Maverick Carter and Nikola Jokic’s agent,  Ražnatović. While initially many thought the trio might have been discussing teaming up the Joker and the King, that wasn’t the case. “He (Miško Ražnatović) went on a Serbian podcast and spoke on the record about it. I had to speak to a Serbian, but I knew how to make sure that the translation was accurate. But what Miško said about Maverick and LeBron was, quote, this is a translation, they are planning a certain group of investors, classic business to create a league that would somehow also compete with the NBA,” Windhorst reported.

“They don’t want it to be a U.S. 
League, they want it to have a European flavour, so to speak. And when they started working on it, everyone told them to call me. And I believe he said he’s had multiple meetings with Maverick about.” The analyst further explained. The investors are trying to establish this competition in Europe, from where they will try and compete with the National Basketball League. Not just that, the league is allegedly envisioned to comprise six men’s and six women’s teams, with games to be played across eight cities around the world, with two weeks in each city.

Alongside Carter’s advisory role and the $5 billion funding target backed by groups like Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the Singaporean government, UBS, and other private equity funds, reports also point to additional investors such as Skype co-founder Geoff Prentice, former Facebook executive Grady Burnett, and SC Holdings, with the project envisioned to have a distinctly European focus shaped through meetings with influential agent Miško Ražnatović.

This model is based on the popular Formula 1 races, we’ve all witnessed. Nonetheless, while there are plenty of challenges attached to this model, the new league is backed by some big hitters apart from LeBron James. This includes the likes of  Skype co-founder Geoff Prentice, former Facebook executive Grady Burnett, and an investment firm called SC Holdings. While these names should garner much more attention to this matter, it also makes you think, will James suit up in the upcoming league to help its growth?

Will LeBron James leave the NBA?

While it’s confirmed that Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is an investor in the upcoming basketball league set to rival the NBA, that might not be his only involvement within the competition. NBA Insider and someone who’s been covering him since his high school days, Brian Windhorst, also thinks that there’s a possibility that James might play in it.

However, it won’t be because the 40-year-old cannot compete at the highest level anymore, but rather it’ll be because he’s achieved everything there is to achieve in the United States. “I can’t speak to where [LeBron’s] at spiritually about wanting to play longer, but what I can tell you is his play on the court is not indicating somebody who’s near retirement,” Windhorst said.

In fact, the man himself has attested to the fact that he’s got a few more seasons in the tank, but he’s not deciding upon that right now. This indicates that there’s a serious chance that we might be seeing King James suit up for one of the teams in the new league set to start in the near future. However, this is just a mere speculation for now, as everyone awaits to see what the future holds for the veteran.