LeBron James and Naomi Osaka’s Partnership Gets Ripped Apart Over Controversial Name

Published 06/25/2022, 8:30 AM EDT

The sky was looking bright for Naomi Osaka and LeBron James. Notably, the two combined to form a new company. The partnership was all set and ready to go, and the young tennis star was full of excitement about the new venture. However, a huge block in the road came up on the way. A big controversy surrounding the name of the company saw massive backlash come towards Osaka and the Akron Hammer.

LeBron has already made his mark in the media industry. His company SpringHill, they are one of the biggest upcoming media companies in the game. And with a project to work with one of Tennis’ finest coming up, James did not hesitate. After making an emphatic name on the tennis court, Naomi jumped on to make her entry into Hollywood with a media company called ‘Hana Kuma’.

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Coming from a Japanese background, the name represents her culture. However, the name of her company is much different in the language of Swahili.

LeBron James and Naomi Osaka face a major backlash

The four-time grand slam champion could have never imagined such a day come up. Osaka was on cloud nine with her new media company ‘Hana Kuma’ in the works. However, her partnership with LeBron James received tons of backlash after a shocking revelation. While in the Japanese tongue Hana Kuma means flower bean, in Swahili it means ‘a woman without a vagina’.

This sparked a huge surprise on Twitter as fans were livid. They did not hold back against Osaka and said she should have done her research before thinking of the name. In addition, now that it is out to the world, all the people feel a change of name is in order. But there is still no direct response from the 24-year-old star on this controversy.

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It truly came up as an unfortunate event for Osaka and her dreams of a Hollywood entryway. In addition, even LeBron James was all behind the project and excited about the stories to come. Osaka had her eyes on television series, documentaries, and even animes to come through her company. However, the two will have to go back to the drawing board after this bump. But it isn’t the end of it all. The name has surely made noise around, but the plans are going nowhere.

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Osaka is a powerful woman and has never been afraid to speak about ongoing issues. And even in such a tough situation, there is no doubt the tennis giant will find a way to move forward.

Do you think Naomi Osaka and LeBron James are at fault here? Let us know in the comments below.

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Written by:

Anuj Talwalkar is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports. He is a student studying at NM College in Mumbai, aspiring to pursue sports management to follow his love for sports. Anuj started following the NBA last year, and he loves to combine his passion for writing with his understanding of basketball.

Edited by:

Bagavathi Eswaran

LeBron James and Naomi Osaka’s Partnership Gets Ripped Apart Over Controversial Name

LeBron James and Naomi Osaka face a major backlash

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