LeBron James has wanted to own an NBA team in Las Vegas forever. It’s been his endgame, the one thing he’s made perfectly clear. But as he heads into his 23rd season, the ground is shifting. The Lakers are building their future around Luka Dončić, and for the first time, the King’s own future is a question mark. So what does he do when the front door to ownership looks locked? He starts building his own.
That’s where a recent photo from a boat in Saint-Tropez comes in. The picture, showing LeBron with his business partner Maverick Carter and Nikola Jokic’s agent, Miško Ražnatović, wasn’t some accidental leak. As radio host Doug Gottlieb pointed out, it was a power play. “Why would somebody take a picture and then put it out on social media?” Gottlieb asked. “Because they want you to know it’s happening.”
So what was the meeting really about? Forget a LeBron-Jokic team-up. According to reports, this was about something much bigger: a new, $5 billion international basketball league that could one day rival the NBA. The idea, cooked up by Carter, is a game-changer. It’ll kind of be like LIV Golf, but for hoops, with traveling teams and a feature the NBA forbids: giving players a piece of the ownership pie. It’s the ultimate power play, and as radio host Doug Gottlieb put it, it’s a clear message to Adam Silver: “If you don’t give me this team, I’m going to go out and form this other league that’s going to be in competition with you.”
But why does LeBron need to make such a bold move? Because his Vegas dream is getting complicated. The price of an NBA team has exploded. With franchises now selling for $10 billion, the fee for a new team in Vegas could hit a staggering $6 billion. And while LeBron’s $1.2 billion net worth is incredible, it “pales in comparison to the guys that are in the financial markets,” as one analyst put it. Even Michael Jordan needed his billionaire status to buy the Hornets for $180 million.
On top of that, Adam Silver has made it clear the league has a strict vetting process for new owners, a process that’s currently on hold. As Silver recently said, for now, it’s “pencils down at the league office.” It’s a harsh reality that’s forced LeBron to create his own leverage. And it looks like the NBA is already firing back.
The NBA’s countermove to LeBron’s new league
While LeBron and his camp are busy plotting a potential rival league, Adam Silver and the NBA are making a power play of their own. In what looks like a direct response, Silver is aggressively pursuing his own European expansion. It’s a move designed to solidify the NBA’s dominance on the world stage.
According to a detailed report from The Athletic, Silver and his top deputies are on a European tour, meeting with potential investors and teams. The league is reportedly trying to poach powerhouse clubs like Real Madrid and FC Barcelona from the EuroLeague.
Their biggest target? Real Madrid. With its endless cash from its soccer team and its EuroLeague license expiring in 2026, they are the ultimate prize. If Silver can flip them, European sources believe other top clubs would follow. What more will it do? Effectively kill any rival league’s talent pool before it can even start.
And Silver isn’t just taking meetings, he’s putting boots on the ground. He has already met with the British Prime Minister about a team in London and held talks with Qatari investors about a new team in Paris. To prove they’re serious, the NBA is putting games on the schedule. They’ve announced that the Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies will play regular-season games in Berlin and London in 2026, with more planned for Paris and Manchester. As one NBA executive put it, this all “reflects the incredible momentum and appetite for NBA basketball” across Europe.
[US, Mexico, & Canada customers only] Jan 23, 2025; Paris, FRANCE; NBA commissioner Adam Silver speaks before the Paris Games 2025 NBA basketball game between the San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers at Accor Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephanie Lecocq/Reuters via Imagn ImagesThe threat to the existing European basketball structure is real. German club Alba Berlin has already announced it’s leaving the EuroLeague after 24 seasons, with its owner citing an unsustainable financial model. The EuroLeague’s CEO, Paulius Motiejunas, has pushed back, saying a new NBA-backed league would create “confusion” and “division.”
But with Silver openly calling Europe a “huge market,” it’s clear the NBA is on the offensive. It’s a high-stakes chess match for the future of global basketball. On one side, you have LeBron, the aging king, using the threat of a new league to get his seat at the owners’ table. On the other, you have Adam Silver, the powerful commissioner, making a bold move to protect his empire. That quiet boat meeting in France wasn’t just a vacation photo; it was the opening shot in a new kind of war.
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