Could LeBron James‘ plans of launching a Las Vegas team come to fruition in the near future? As many NBA fans should be aware, LeBron is a star for the Los Angeles Lakers and is still considered the face of the league despite being in the backend of his career. This makes sense considering that he is still playing at an unprecedented level despite entering Year 21 of his career.
King James has also seen an incredible amount of success off the court. After all, he is the only player to have accumulated a net worth exceeding $1 billion while still playing in the NBA. Fans who have been following LeBron will remember that he has shared his desire to start an NBA team in Las Vegas and become an owner.
Senior NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski was recently interviewed and discussed the timeframe within which the league plans to bring about an expansion. With that being said, let us take a closer look at the situation and find out more.
Does LeBron James have enough money to buy an NBA team in Las Vegas?
Although LeBron James is one of the richest and most successful athletes in the history of sports, building and owning a team from scratch might prove too expensive for even the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. While we have no way of knowing the exact numbers, making a new NBA team is estimated to cost at least $5 billion.
Nonetheless, LeBron still has the potential to invest in a new Las Vegas NBA team and become the majority owner. He has already made this desire very clear in the past and even highlighted it recently on social media.
Viva Las Vegas!!!! 🗣️🗣️🗣️😁🫡👑 https://t.co/e8jwvtjTiX
— LeBron James (@KingJames) October 10, 2023
In a seeming response to this, Woj sent out a statement indicating that the league is only around a year away from starting another expansion, He predicted that the NBA would start the process once its negotiations regarding media rights negotiations.
“I’ve been told that once the league gets done with these media rights negotiations, probably over the next year, they extend that deal. Then the league will start to look toward expansion and certainly Las Vegas is going to be at or among the primary cities…”
“I’ve been told that once the league gets done with these media rights negotiations, the league will start to look toward expansion… Certainly Las Vegas, along with Seattle.”
Woj says the expectation is the NBA could add two franchises👀
(via @ESPNNBA)pic.twitter.com/ht1VZLPBKm
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 10, 2023
This news must have certainly made LeBron feel quite happy and reassured him that his goal of owning an NBA team is only a year away. We look forward to finding out if the NBA’s all-time leading scorer is able to turn his dream into a reality.