Tracy McGrady recently discussed the likelihood of LeBron James becoming an owner of an NBA team in the near future. As veteran fans will remember McGrady is a former NBA star best known for his time with the Toronto Raptors Orlando Magic and Houston Rockets. Although he never won an NBA title in his career, he is still considered one of the more elite players that the game has ever seen.
In that domain, LeBron is considered echelons ahead by many. After all, King James has managed to win 4 NBA championships with 3 franchises throughout his 20-year career so far. To add to that, LeBron is playing at an incredible level for a player of advanced age and is also the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
While LeBron’s accomplishments on the court are truly incredible, the same can be said of his business empire. King James is the first player in league history to amass a net worth exceeding $1 billion while in the midst of his NBA career.
All of this begs the question as to whether he will actually be able to own an NBA franchise. With that being said, let us take a closer look at what McGrady had to say on the subject and find out more about whether LeBron could achieve this.
How much will it cost LeBron James to start an NBA team?
LeBron James has found an impressive amount of success in his career so far. After it comes to an inevitable end, being an owner of an NBA franchise would be the cherry on top of the cake. The 4x NBA champion has already mentioned in the past that he is interested in starting a new NBA team in Las Vegas.
The NBA commissioner and other sources have also indicated that an expansion plan is in the works and that other cities in the United States might become home to some new NBA teams. LeBron would be an ideal face for new ownership considering the immense popularity that he already possesses. Tracy McGrady shared that he was confident this would happen.
“I’ve heard that for the last three years, that it was gonna be an expansion team out here in Las Vegas…I heard that LeBron James is going to be the owner of that. It’s his team. I heard it through league channels.”
NBA legend says he heard LeBron James will be owner of Las Vegas expansion team: https://t.co/AcjdrGgEXu
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) July 25, 2023
Although we have no way of knowing what league channels Tmac heard from, there is no reason to doubt the legitimacy of his statements. However, the question remains if LeBron has enough money to start an NBA team from scratch.
Some of us already know that Michael Jordan recently sold his majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets for around $3 billion. Therefore, starting a brand new franchise in modern times might cost significantly more. We estimate it to be somewhere around $5 billion. Fans should certainly wonder if LeBron will be able to generate this kind of money and invest it into an NBA franchise after his retirement.