LeBron James, a boy from Akron, Ohio, who came from a broken home, without knowing his father and without a college education, has built a billion-dollar empire.

One of the most popular debates in sports is who is from the “G.O.A.T.” (acronym in English for greatest of all time), the best of all time. In the NBA, the Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James debate has been under discussion for years, but it has gained more traction since James passed Kareem Abdul Jabbar to become the greatest scorer of all time.

It’s a complicated debate when you compare players from different eras and even more so if a player is still competing. What will become of LeBron James in three or four years? The reality is that we do not know and until then we will not know who the “G.O.A.T.” of the NBA court.

What we have seen is the career that LeBron James has created off the court, as a friend, businessman and humanitarian. A boy who came from a broken home, without knowing his father and without a college education, has built a billion-dollar empire.

LeBron James during the National Anthem before the game against the Celtics on December 25, 2023 at the Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles. Photo: Getty

The most impressive thing is that he has done it with his high school friends, whom he trusts blindly, and for whom he decided to get opportunities according to his interests, so that they could grow together and develop as a group.

LeBron’s circle or ‘Ganga’, as Phil Jackson once called him, is a very closed one that includes his friends Maverick Carter, Rich Paul and Randy Mims. Between them, they have formed one of the most powerful groups not only in the NBA, but in the world of business and entertainment.

LeBron: faithful friend and businessman

The sad story of many athletes is that they win millions and then lose them. They waste money on their friends, or give too much power to people who don’t have their best interests in mind or the knowledge necessary to manage their money. LeBron James had a great idea to avoid this: how about putting your best friends in business development and learning positions?

Let’s start with Maverick Carter, a St. Vincent St. Marys High School basketball teammate and good friend of LeBron, who was interning at Nike when LeBron signed with the brand for $90 million without having played a game in the NBA. The future NBA star asked Nike at that time, which wanted Maverick to be his manager, because Lebron saw potential in him in the business world and, more importantly, he trusted him.

That opportunity has made Maverick Carter one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, being co-owner of Spring Hill Entertainment and Uninterrupted, both production and media companies. Those companies have produced content for Warner Bros., HBO, ESPN, and Netflix.

Maverick Carter, with LeBron James after a game between the Lakers and Orlando Magic on October 30, 2023 at the Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles. Photo: Getty

Maverick is also responsible for negotiating some of the most important investments in Lebron’s business career: A business with ‘beats by Dre’ in the brand’s initial days, purchasing part of Fenway Sports Group, owners of the Red Sox in MLB and Liverpool in the Premier League, and a lifetime contract with Nike believed to be around $1 billion.

Then there’s Rich Paul. He is now one of the most powerful sports agents in the world. Lebron met him when he bought him a Magic Johnson jersey that Rich sold him from the trunk of his car. Rich realized at that time that there was a demand for “vintage jerseys” from NBA, MLB and NFL players, so Rich went down to Atlanta once a month to buy jerseys and then resold them in Ohio from his car.

LeBron and Rich had many things in common, especially their passion for sports, and they began a friendship. Little by little, Lebron realized Rich’s work ethic and his tenacity in business and intelligence in dealing with people.

Eventually, when Lebron signed in the NBA he began paying Rich a salary of $48,000 a year without knowing exactly what for.

“I always knew that he had a purpose, that he was going to achieve great things. It was always a feeling I had,” Lebron James said of Paul.

LeBron got him a position at CAA (Creative Sports Agency), the agency of LeBron’s first agent, Leon Rose and the king.

Rich started his own sports agency called Klutch Sports, to which athletes like Anthony Davis, Ben Simmons and Trae Young are tied, in addition to James, of course.

Do you remember the vintage ‘jersey’ that Rich sold to Lebron from Magic Johnson? Now imagine 15 years later, Magic Johnson showing up at LeBron’s house to sell him and Rich Paul on the idea of Lebron signing with the Lakers. And also, that Rich is LeBron’s agent and that he negotiates a multimillion-dollar contract with the most famous franchise in the NBA.

Not bad for a young man who started selling t-shirts from his car.

And finally, his most private friend Randy Mims. If you ever have to deal with Lebron on an NBA court, in an interview, in a commercial, in a movie, you should ask for Randy.

Randy is LeBron’s right-hand man, and the day-to-day manager of “The King.” Wherever Lebron is, Randy is there. Managing your calendar, his time, and his commitments. Although he receives the least attention of the three friends, he has possibly the toughest job of all: managing the day-to-day life of one of the biggest stars in the world. They eventually opened a sports marketing agency with the initials of LeBron’s close circle of friends: “LRMR” Sport (Lebron, Rich, Maverick, Randy)

Three friends, all in extremely important, powerful and successful positions. All possible because a young man from Akron, Ohio, decided to take his business career with people from “home” and give him opportunities that would otherwise never have been offered to young people of color without a high level of education or impressive letters of introduction.

LeBron: humanitarian and spokesperson for social justice

Success in business has allowed Lebron to help others, something he always had in mind since he was young. James, who entered the NBA immediately out of high school in 2003, planned from the beginning to use his talent, his fame (and, yes, his financial resources) to have an impact on the world. beyond basketball.

“Even before I entered the NBA, I knew I wanted to find a way to contribute to my community,” James said. Although James bounced from house to house throughout his childhood and experienced financial insecurity during many of those years, he also received tremendous support from friends, neighbors, and educators.

The LeBron James Family Foundation, founded in 2004, initially attracted local attention by giving away bikes and backpacks. He then began looking into after-school programs, with students scattered across several dozen schools, and eventually created a public school, “I Promise School,” that currently serves about 575 students in third through eighth grades. Today, the school includes a family resource center that provides a wide range of services to parents, including mental health, financial education, legal assistance, and GED courses.

James has earned more than $400 million in NBA salary during his time in Cleveland, Miami and Los Angeles. Another $100 million or so is on the way over the next two and a half years. In addition, he has multiple sponsorship contracts with multinational companies. His entertainment company, Spring Hill, named after the apartment complex where he grew up, is valued at $725 million.

James is very focused on giving back to Akron because of the help people gave him and his family. “He’s never lost sight of that,” Michele Campbell, executive director of the James Foundation, told NBA.com. “I think that keeps him grounded.”

In 2010 he was questioned a lot when he appeared on television to announce that he was leaving Cleveland to play in Miami. Billed as “The Decision,” and broadcast on ESPN, the live event was widely described as selfish. But from James’ perspective, the broadcast raised around $4 million for charities, a fact that was largely overlooked.

Just a couple of years later, James would use his star power to help draw attention to a cause bigger than himself: social justice.

In the wake of the 2012 death of Trayvon Martin, a black Florida teenager who was wearing a hoodie when he was fatally shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer, James tweeted a photo of Heat players wearing hoodies and bowing their heads. which included the hashtag “#WeWantJustice.”

In 2020, James helped lead the “More Than a Vote” movement, which included registration and early voting drives and emphasized the need for people, particularly voters of color, to go to the polls.

Also in 2020, after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police,  James was one of the players who called for an end to racial inequality and police brutality.

LeBron James has all the money and all the fame he ever wanted or needed, but the most impressive thing is how he has achieved it. He has not sold his soul to anyone, he has maintained the same circle of friends since high school and continues to help disadvantaged communities and defend civil rights.

The records with the ball, including the scoring title, will last a long time, but so will what he has achieved off the court.

For now he is still open to the NBA “G.O.A.T” debate. But what is very clear is that what Lebron has achieved and created off the court is a “G.O.A.T” thing.