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Western Conference star player LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers answers questions at a press conference prior to the NBA Basketball All-Star Game, Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rob Gray)
Western Conference star player LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers answers questions at a press conference prior to the NBA Basketball All-Star Game, Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rob Gray)
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has tripled his aspirations for an NBA franchise in Las Vegas.
During the NBA All-Star Game press conference in Salt Lake City on Sunday, James praised Las Vegas for its professional sports projects.
“I would love to at some point own an NBA franchise and be able to bring a winning franchise to a city,” James said. “Las Vegas is a fantastic city that is doing great things in the world of sports. You see what the Aces are doing, the Raiders, the Kings, the hockey team.”
James was corrected by reporters, who told him that the NHL team was the Golden Knights, not the Los Angeles Kings.
Fellow NBA All-Star and Chicago Bulls guard DeMar DeRozan also said Las Vegas should have an NBA franchise when asked which city should have a team that doesn’t.
DeRozan even offered a possible name for the team: Las Vegas Strips.
In June, James said on an episode of his YouTube show, “The Shop: Uninterrupted,” that he wanted to own an NBA team one day and “I want a team in Las Vegas.”
In October, following a Lakers preseason game at T-Mobile Arena, James again expressed his interest in Las Vegas, this time addressing NBA commissioner Adam Silver: “I want a team here, Adam. Thank you”.
In July, Silver told the Review-Journal that the league’s potential expansion was still a few years away. The league needs to first enter into a new collective bargaining agreement and media rights agreements that will occur after the 2024-25 season.
Silver said that since Las Vegas is a smaller television market, a new broadcast rights deal that is likely to be more intensive on Internet broadcasts would benefit the city if it wins a franchise.
“How we allocate our (media) rights in the future will also influence the value of a franchise here (Las Vegas),” Silver said.
Oak View Group (OVG) last year announced plans to build a $3 billion project that would include a $1 billion NBA-ready stadium. OVG’s CEO, Tim Leiweke, was former president of the Denver Nuggets, and his co-founder, Irving Azoff, has long experience building and operating stadiums. Marc Badain, former president of the Raiders, is leading the stadium portion of the project.
James, 38, has said he plans to play a few more years in hopes of being a teammate with his eldest son, Bronny, who is a senior in high school.
