LeBron rumored to be starting his own basketball league

[SomeBunghole]

If it gets the best players in the world because it can pay them more than the NBA, it will be a threat.

The problem with all upstart/challenger leagues we've had in North America in the past 50-60 years(ABA, WHA, USFL) was not that they couldn't convince players to switch given enough money. It was that you have to have a business model beyond "let's just offer the moon to everyone to convince them to switch to us."

[SNPA]

It's not close to a legit threat. This league will flop hard, because there's no stakes involved. Great, six teams playing each other for the LeBron Cup. Yippee, how exciting.

If it gets the best players in the world because it can pay them more than the NBA, it will be a threat.

This is what the WNBA is already dealing with with Unrivaled. Far easier to do in the women's game because everything's cheaper, but there's a similar principle in that you don't need to match the established league's revenue in order to pay higher salaries if you trim the other costs...with kinda by definition, the biggest "cost" being having to share half the revenue with non-player owners.

I just don't think even getting big names will be that much of a draw in the long term. Sports are about stakes, and there will be no stakes in this new league. The players will already be making ungodly amounts of money, and they'll be earning it for competing for a trophy that has no history or anything behind it. I mean, what is they are playing for. Now they're playing for an NBA Championship, something that the legends of the sport have achieved and even really great players haven't. Playing for the Larry LeBronian trophy? Meh, who cares. Will players even play hard for a trophy that doesn't matter, especially when they have life changing money in the bank.

Without stakes, what exactly is the point. It would be like watching a glorified pickup game. Sure, don't get me wrong, if Ant and Donovan Mitchell are at a pickup game in the Cage when I'm in Manhattan, I'm definitely watching it and it would easily be the highlight of my trip. It doesn't mean that I'd want to tune into this multiple times a year. The novelty will wear off real quickly.

Unrivaled, which seems like a decent side show attraction at best, has the advantage of going against a league that has not mattered much in terms of the US public sport consciousness. The Lebron James league is going to go against a league that has 70+ years of history, with the last 40 years being real important. There's generations of Laker and Celtic fans who probably aren't going to stop being fans just because this league has some good players.

They will call it the true international championship. Those will be the stakes, vs the NBA championship. Which sounds more impressive to you?

[Lalouie]

He can finally pass MJs six championships.

or,,,,do something mj never did...present the trophy to the champ and a nice opportunity for a photo op

[Lalouie]

If it gets the best players in the world because it can pay them more than the NBA, it will be a threat.

This is what the WNBA is already dealing with with Unrivaled. Far easier to do in the women's game because everything's cheaper, but there's a similar principle in that you don't need to match the established league's revenue in order to pay higher salaries if you trim the other costs...with kinda by definition, the biggest "cost" being having to share half the revenue with non-player owners.

I just don't think even getting big names will be that much of a draw in the long term. Sports are about stakes, and there will be no stakes in this new league. The players will already be making ungodly amounts of money, and they'll be earning it for competing for a trophy that has no history or anything behind it. I mean, what is they are playing for. Now they're playing for an NBA Championship, something that the legends of the sport have achieved and even really great players haven't. Playing for the Larry LeBronian trophy? Meh, who cares. Will players even play hard for a trophy that doesn't matter, especially when they have life changing money in the bank.

Without stakes, what exactly is the point. It would be like watching a glorified pickup game. Sure, don't get me wrong, if Ant and Donovan Mitchell are at a pickup game in the Cage when I'm in Manhattan, I'm definitely watching it and it would easily be the highlight of my trip. It doesn't mean that I'd want to tune into this multiple times a year. The novelty will wear off real quickly.

Unrivaled, which seems like a decent side show attraction at best, has the advantage of going against a league that has not mattered much in terms of the US public sport consciousness. The Lebron James league is going to go against a league that has 70+ years of history, with the last 40 years being real important. There's generations of Laker and Celtic fans who probably aren't going to stop being fans just because this league has some good players.

They will call it the true international championship. Those will be the stakes, vs the NBA championship. Which sounds more impressive to you?

it will be so lopsided it will never be anything but a photo op for the new league

[Edrees]

didn't the Big 3 start a new league recently? This isn't that unprecedented happened recently.

[SNPA]

I just don't think even getting big names will be that much of a draw in the long term. Sports are about stakes, and there will be no stakes in this new league. The players will already be making ungodly amounts of money, and they'll be earning it for competing for a trophy that has no history or anything behind it. I mean, what is they are playing for. Now they're playing for an NBA Championship, something that the legends of the sport have achieved and even really great players haven't. Playing for the Larry LeBronian trophy? Meh, who cares. Will players even play hard for a trophy that doesn't matter, especially when they have life changing money in the bank.

Without stakes, what exactly is the point. It would be like watching a glorified pickup game. Sure, don't get me wrong, if Ant and Donovan Mitchell are at a pickup game in the Cage when I'm in Manhattan, I'm definitely watching it and it would easily be the highlight of my trip. It doesn't mean that I'd want to tune into this multiple times a year. The novelty will wear off real quickly.

Unrivaled, which seems like a decent side show attraction at best, has the advantage of going against a league that has not mattered much in terms of the US public sport consciousness. The Lebron James league is going to go against a league that has 70+ years of history, with the last 40 years being real important. There's generations of Laker and Celtic fans who probably aren't going to stop being fans just because this league has some good players.

They will call it the true international championship. Those will be the stakes, vs the NBA championship. Which sounds more impressive to you?

it will be so lopsided it will never be anything but a photo op for the new league

Maybe. Or maybe it takes root.

I didn't address the previous point about existing NBA team fans. I don't think Celtics fans will stop being Celtics fans. Just like Real Madrid fans won't stop either. They'll just both be feeder leagues to a more exclusive international league. That doesn't mean the NBA or Euro champs won't continue to exist.

[Lalouie]

They will call it the true international championship. Those will be the stakes, vs the NBA championship. Which sounds more impressive to you?

it will be so lopsided it will never be anything but a photo op for the new league

Maybe. Or maybe it takes root.

I didn't address the previous point about existing NBA team fans. I don't think Celtics fans will stop being Celtics fans. Just like Real Madrid fans won't stop either. They'll just both be feeder leagues to a more exclusive international league. That doesn't mean the NBA or Euro champs won't continue to exist.

all points are valid

but i honestly dont thing usa fans give a sh**. we're so parochial and have little room for anything separated by large bodies of water. otoh there might be more interest from abroad

i could say that maybe euro players might be more keen on competing vs usa.
here's a prob....usa players make too damn much money to care. you know where it worked,,,,for usa women playing overseas to make more money. between the best euros making usd and other euros playing for their country in fiba/olympics,,,i can't see it.

if you REALLY want to make it successful you need china. china has approx 800,000,000 whopping people liking basketball/nba. i mean when silver alludes to the nba's popularity....it's THERE it's over double the population of the usa

[MrBigShot]

There are role players earning 20+ mil a year in the nba at this point. Why would someone risk injury for something like this? Unless his targeted demo is journeymen/players who aren't in the NBA

[JN61]

So he wants to start two leagues? Or are these mixed teams with 2 women and 3 men required on the court at all times or something similar?

[Doctor MJ]

If it gets the best players in the world because it can pay them more than the NBA, it will be a threat.

The problem with all upstart/challenger leagues we've had in North America in the past 50-60 years(ABA, WHA, USFL) was not that they couldn't convince players to switch given enough money. It was that you have to have a business model beyond "let's just offer the moon to everyone to convince them to switch to us."

The business model gets super-simple though when you just cut out the owners and the employees connected with franchises.

Let's note that in the 1930s, in the wake of the Great Depression, what did the best teams do? Leave their leagues and go barnstorming. What did the best players do? Join the most successful barnstorming teams. I'd argue that the secret to a player-owned league is in many ways to just follow that sort of playbook.

To be clear, I'm not saying the player-owned league will replace the NBA, nor that it will generate more revenue than the NBA, only that if it can pay enough to recruit the best of the best, it will be able to tak some of the oxygen in the room.

[Doctor MJ]

There are role players earning 20+ mil a year in the nba at this point. Why would someone risk injury for something like this? Unless his targeted demo is journeymen/players who aren't in the NBA

Role players aren't going to be the ones they target.

[Jailblazers7]

Seems like a bad idea. The real market gap is in the youth development space. AAU is broken, G League Ignite failed, & OTE is underwhelming.

[duppyy]

That’s cool, I probably won’t watch.

[SomeBunghole]

Let's note that in the 1930s, in the wake of the Great Depression, what did the best teams do? Leave their leagues and go barnstorming. What did the best players do? Join the most successful barnstorming teams. I'd argue that the secret to a player-owned league is in many ways to just follow that sort of playbook.

We should also not thate it's not the 1930s. A 100-year old model is probably not the best thing to follow here, especially since this LeBron-league idea goes against the main source of revenue for each NBA team: local markets. Local cable deals and season tickets are what makes it possible for LeBron's corpse to be paid $50 million at the age of 41 and not bankrupt the Lakers or the Association.

The idea that having teams not tied to local markets will not just match current levels of interest but increase them is laughable.

[mademan]

Only real way I can see this working if it's an Arab league type thing where the uber wealthy over there are willing to lose money for a decade while paying the most famous players of the past 15 years (Lebron, Curry, Harden, Durant, Kyrie, Kawhi, Davis) while maybe stealing some great young talents like ANT that want to be paid the gulf Arab soccer type money (100mill+/year).

Do these guys even pay taxes in these leagues? I know the Gulf dont really have income tax, but you still have to pay Uncle Sam something

[Nate505]

If it gets the best players in the world because it can pay them more than the NBA, it will be a threat.

This is what the WNBA is already dealing with with Unrivaled. Far easier to do in the women's game because everything's cheaper, but there's a similar principle in that you don't need to match the established league's revenue in order to pay higher salaries if you trim the other costs...with kinda by definition, the biggest "cost" being having to share half the revenue with non-player owners.

I just don't think even getting big names will be that much of a draw in the long term. Sports are about stakes, and there will be no stakes in this new league. The players will already be making ungodly amounts of money, and they'll be earning it for competing for a trophy that has no history or anything behind it. I mean, what is they are playing for. Now they're playing for an NBA Championship, something that the legends of the sport have achieved and even really great players haven't. Playing for the Larry LeBronian trophy? Meh, who cares. Will players even play hard for a trophy that doesn't matter, especially when they have life changing money in the bank.

Without stakes, what exactly is the point. It would be like watching a glorified pickup game. Sure, don't get me wrong, if Ant and Donovan Mitchell are at a pickup game in the Cage when I'm in Manhattan, I'm definitely watching it and it would easily be the highlight of my trip. It doesn't mean that I'd want to tune into this multiple times a year. The novelty will wear off real quickly.

Unrivaled, which seems like a decent side show attraction at best, has the advantage of going against a league that has not mattered much in terms of the US public sport consciousness. The Lebron James league is going to go against a league that has 70+ years of history, with the last 40 years being real important. There's generations of Laker and Celtic fans who probably aren't going to stop being fans just because this league has some good players.

They will call it the true international championship. Those will be the stakes, vs the NBA championship. Which sounds more impressive to you?

Easily an NBA Championship. No question about it. Not even an argument.

The NBA Championship was the prize that Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic, Bird, Jordan, Hakeem, Shaq, Kobe, LeBron, Duncan, Kobe, Curry, etc. spent their careers getting. It's the ultimate prize in basketball.

The "True International Championship"? Yawn.

[Nate505]

Only real way I can see this working if it's an Arab league type thing where the uber wealthy over there are willing to lose money for a decade while paying the most famous players of the past 15 years (Lebron, Curry, Harden, Durant, Kyrie, Kawhi, Davis) while maybe stealing some great young talents like ANT that want to be paid the gulf Arab soccer type money (100mill+/year).

Do these guys even pay taxes in these leagues? I know the Gulf dont really have income tax, but you still have to pay Uncle Sam something

But what is the interest in watching a league with these guys? There's no history behind the Saudi Cup or whatever the winner of the league will get.

For whatever reason, I think people severely underestimate how much the history of the league matters. Players are definitely essential as well, and no doubt the NBA would suck if like 80% of the All NBA 1st-3rd teams went to another league, but it will still have the history behind it. I mean, watching Jokic (not to pick on him, just that I enjoy watching him play now) lead the Riyadh Riders over Doncic and the Jeddah Jets would be, uh, something I guess, and if they are giving it their all, uh, I'm sure the product itself would be worth watching, but at the end of the day, what does a Saudi Cup mean? Leading a team to an NBA Championship puts your name with other giants of the game.

[mademan]

Only real way I can see this working if it's an Arab league type thing where the uber wealthy over there are willing to lose money for a decade while paying the most famous players of the past 15 years (Lebron, Curry, Harden, Durant, Kyrie, Kawhi, Davis) while maybe stealing some great young talents like ANT that want to be paid the gulf Arab soccer type money (100mill+/year).

Do these guys even pay taxes in these leagues? I know the Gulf dont really have income tax, but you still have to pay Uncle Sam something

But what is the interest in watching a league with these guys? There's no history behind the Saudi Cup or whatever the winner of the league will get.

For whatever reason, I think people severely underestimate how much the history of the league matters. Players are definitely essential as well, and no doubt the NBA would suck if like 80% of the All NBA 1st-3rd teams went to another league, but it will still have the history behind it. I mean, watching Jokic (not to pick on him, just that I enjoy watching him play now) lead the Riyadh Riders over Doncic and the Jeddah Jets would be, uh, something I guess, and if they are giving it their all, uh, I'm sure the product itself would be worth watching, but at the end of the day, what does a Saudi Cup mean? Leading a team to an NBA Championship puts your name with other giants of the game.

It means nothing. This would just be the Saudi's trying to build a league in the Gulf and using the popular NBA stars to get it started. It would be an absolute losing proposition for a while, but it could also be a great long term investment

[LakerLegend]

Looks like this is why the NBA is rushing to establish a European league:

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/07/31/nba-europe-franchise-fees-likely-to-exceed-500m/

[levon]

Looks like this is why the NBA is rushing to establish a European league:

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/07/31/nba-europe-franchise-fees-likely-to-exceed-500m/

Was gonna bring this up. Maybe they're building something to ultimately sell to the NBA as an exit.