LeBron James: Is he the most powerful athlete in all of sports?

LeBron James will always be in the discussion of being the best player in the NBA. That’s debatable. Is LeBron James the most powerful? Read and find out why his influence is spreading out from the NBA to the NFL and college sports!

LeBron James starts his journey to get the Los Angeles Lakers back on track when training camp starts at the end of the month. No matter if LeBron James meets the goal of leading the Lakers to the NBA title or not, the man has put in work influencing social issues in ways not seen since maybe Muhammad Ali.

What James is doing now with his social platforms is not only affecting the NBA, but his influence is starting to grow not only by the day but by the sport and athletic organization.

LeBron James already showed his powerful media influence by shining the light on the NCAA’s potential criteria by speaking out on the #RichPaulRule.

He started speaking out on Twitter foreshadowing the movement of speaking out for athletes and the promotion of the empowerment of not only professional athletes, but collegiate as well.

https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1158883926640697345?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1158883926640697345&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flakeshowlife.com%2F2019%2F08%2F09%2Flebron-james-speaks-out-ncaa-rich-paul-rule%2F

Oh, he’s not sorry at all. LeBron James is spearheading a movement that will change the landscape of sports for the next generation. It has already started on the West Coast dealing with NCAA student-athletes possibly being able to be compensated financially for the first time (legally) in history.

LeBron James took to Twitter to support the “Senate Bill 206” or “SB 206” for short to allow college athletes to get paid for endorsements. This is piggybacking the exposure that may have caused the NCAA to make changes in their agent criteria a month ago.

Taking a look back at LeBron James and the moves that he has made throughout his career, most have subliminally provided advocation for player rights. He has provided the blueprint on how players can benefit from the riches of free agency that many players enjoyed just this past summer.

From opening doors for players to switch teams easily, to structuring NBA contracts for greater flexibility and higher salaries, LeBron James has taken what Michael Jordan did in the ’90s and moved it into the social media era.

The three-time NBA champion has used his several media platforms that provided an opportunity for his colleagues to advocate for themselves through his documentaries on cable as well as his highly controversial show on HBO called “The Shop”.

Now, instead of hearing narratives through the hot takes of media pundits, there are options that not only athletes, but fans can go to for information.

Lake Show Life takes a broad look at the biggest athletic advocate in the world today, LeBron James.

The NCAA goes from LeBron James speaking out about the “Rich Paul Rule” to what? Politics?

The one argument that has lasted just as long as who is the greatest NBA player of all time is whether college athletes should be paid or be able to profit from endorsements. The days of “Scholarships should be enough!” is starting to become a thing of the past in California.

If the bill proposed in California is not blocked by the Governor in the next several days, it would allow collegiate athletes in the state to profit off endorsement deals. The exposure and support of LeBron James cannot be overstated.

The Senate Bill 206, or SB 206 for short, prohibits schools in California from rescinding scholarships and/or eligibility from student-athletes who use their sport to get an endorsement deal to make their own money. Also, the bill allows athletes the option to hire an attorney or agent without losing their eligibility.

As of this writing, the bill is up for a California State Assembly vote after getting approved by the Senate. If the law passes, it will go into effect in January of 2023.

The NCAA can ban these schools from participating in the NCAA basketball tournament or the football playoffs, but at what cost?

LeBron James took to Twitter to defend Rich Paul and the NCAA criteria and the effects are still evident. The NBA agents are boycotting the exam on November 6th according to The Athletic’s Sham Charania.

Think of what could happen if the best potential college athletes decide to go to California schools and do not participate in major NCAA events. It will have long terms effects. Especially with the media support of LeBron James.

How much traction can 43.6 million followers bring to a subject? Well, it seems that Presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders decided to weigh in on the subject.

This is about power folks. LeBron James and his people are getting more and more of it with each passing day. It seems that Rich Paul is making moves and is expanding his Klutch Sports business to the gridiron.

LeBron James’ agent and best friend, Rich Paul is starting to expand his business to representing potential NFL players. 

The dominance of Rich Paul is unquestionable. Right now, he is the undisputed king of the mountain with the star power of NBA stars that include Draymond Green, Ben Simmons, Eric Bledsoe and Anthony Davis with plenty of others. How good is Rich Paul? J.R. Smith, Tristan Thompson and a player Lakers fans know, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, each has gotten very rich thanks to Paul.

Couple that with LeBron James, who represents the “Global” brand of the NBA. Rich Paul has made some powerful business connections that are expanding outside the NBA. His negotiations to have the Klutch Sports Group to work with the United Talent Agency in Beverly Hills, California made Paul a power player to be reckoned with in all business aspects.

Now it seems that the NFL could possibly be in the future of Rich Paul.

Klutch Sports Group, led by LeBron James’ agent Rich Paul, is in talks with agent Damarius Bilbo to lead a football division.

Some of the players Bilbo represents are Miami Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard, Los Angeles Chargers running back Melvin Gordon (for now…he wants a new contract and is holding out. That contract is not coming! Trade offers pending!), Cleveland Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry and New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara. There’s definite star power on this list.

With Bilbo being suspended earlier this year and fined, maybe he needs help with the day-to-day operations. Who knows?

But what does this have to do with LeBron James you ask? Remember that episode on HBO’s “The Shop” when LeBron had his take on the NFL owners?

"“In the NFL they got a bunch of old white men owning teams, and they got that slave mentality,” James said during the episode. “And it’s like, ‘This is my team. You do what the f— I tell y’all to do or we get rid of y’all.’ “The players are who make the ship go. We make it go. Every Sunday, without Todd Gurley and without Odell Beckham Jr., without those players, those guys, there is no football. And it’s the same in the NBA.”"

With the constant haunting of Colin Kaepernick’s past floating around, it will be very interesting to see if LeBron James’ outspoken takes ruffles the feathers of NFL owners. Since both men are signed to Nike contracts, the effect may be stronger than most think.

Then there’s the GQ conversation featuring LeBron James’ friend Dwyane Wade and Rick Ross talking theoretically about owning an NFL team.

"“Let’s say the opportunity presented itself,” says Ross to Wade, “and we had the opportunity to buy ourselves an NFL team. Is that something we move forward on, or don’t?” “I move forward,” says D-Wade, completely serious. “I move forward on it.” “I’m glad,” says Ross, as they shake hands."

Definite possibilities here.

Most NBA players talk to the media. How many players OWN their media like LeBron James?

Do the NBA fans out there remember the quote “heard around the world” by Kevin Durant about the media and LeBron James to Ric Bucher of the Bleacher Report?

"“So much hype comes from being around LeBron from other people,” Durant said. “He has so many fanboys in the media. Even the beat writers just fawn over him. I’m like, we’re playing basketball here, and it’s not even about basketball at certain points. So I get why anyone wouldn’t want to be in that environment because it’s toxic. Especially when the attention is bullshit attention, fluff. It’s not LeBron’s fault at all; it’s just the fact you have so many groupies in the media that love to hang on every word. Just get out-of-the-way and let us play basketball.”"

Then he followed it up this week in an interview with the Wall Street Journal about hating the circus that goes with being a star in the NBA.

Well, you see, LeBron James does not have these problems because he founded a media company of his own to make sure the media does not frustrate him to the level of Durant.

LeBron talked to ESPN’s The Undefeated, Jerry Bembry about how he uses his media company, “Uninterrupted” to provide a platform for all athletes to tell their truths without worrying about being taken out of context.

"“I wanted athletes to feel like they had power, they had the platform to speak about whatever they wanted to speak about,” James said of the platform to The Undefeated’s Jerry Bembry, “and not have it cut, diced and split into soundbites where people could use it to how they wanted to use it.”"

Uninterrupted has many documentaries on Showtime and HBO. But none have been as successful as “The Shop”. It has been a smash hit with athletes and entertainers talking about social issues. LeBron James has been very candid about what he believes is going on in the world.

Lake Show Life covered numerous shows throughout last season. He was definitely vocal about the aforementioned NFL. He discussed fatherhood and his greatest NBA failure with Drake and indirectly started a rap beef in episode two.

But his documentary, Student Athlete, may have been the seed that started the potential bill in California. It showed the dark side of what college players have to deal with financially trying to get by without any compensation from the NCAA.

Think LeBron didn’t notice?

https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1169632194010071040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1169632194010071040&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fhow-lebron-james-advocates-for-labor-rights-player-empowerment-2019-9

LeBron James goes to the front of the line to speak out on Donald Sterling. Then the NBA cleans up an ugly part of NBA history.

Many NBA fans remember (and would love to forget!) the awful words of Donald Sterling to his mistress that included Magic Johnson that reeked of racism. It came out on a Friday and almost rocked the playoff schedule at the time. Everyone had their opinion (Myself included) on how the situation should be dealt with.

What most people didn’t know at the time was how bad things were going on behind the scenes. That was laid out in full last month on ESPN’s 30 for 30 podcast put together by Ramona Shelburne. But who was at the forefront leading the charge for the NBA players?

LeBron James.

https://twitter.com/ESPNLosAngeles/status/1167557608460279808

This is an early but very powerful example of LeBron James’ voice and influence. As stated in the earlier video by Ramona Shelburne, NBA players did not speak out as strongly in that era on issues like this. In less than 24 hours after the audio was leaked LeBron James was quoted the next day that Sterling’s behavior was not welcome after playing in a playoff game with the Miami Heat.

Despite rumors that there would be a boycott of the game, the Clippers did play against the Golden State Warriors. The Clippers went on to win the series and are still the last Western Conference team to beat the Warriors in the playoffs.

“The Decision” was considered a mistake by many, but NBA players are still benefiting to this day!  

Most of the time when the media talks about LeBron James and his missteps in his career, it seems that all fingers get pointed to 2010, when ESPN did a 60 minute production surrounding James’ decision to leave Cleveland (The first time!) and “Take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat”.

Let’s skip past the wasted 57 minutes that built up to the announcement, shall we? Most NBA fans did not know that LeBron James made a lot of money for the Boys and Girls Club. He donated the proceeds attached to “The Decision” to an organization that could really use the money.

Let’s go deeper than that. LeBron James forming a “superteam” in Miami with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh changed not only the way NBA teams constructed their rosters, but it exposed the level of power that players had over their careers.

It wasn’t the ESPN show that bothered everybody, (well not entirely, the show was bad!) it was the impression of the power that could be had by players controlling the narrative in the media.

At the beginning of the decade, this move made LeBron James one of the most hated athletes in sports. Now at the end of the decade, think about how many players today go to social media and discuss their career moves like LeBron James did nearly ten years ago.

Carmelo Anthony just recently went on ESPN and talked to Stephen A. Smith for an hour about his feelings about being left out of the NBA.

Now go back and look at both interviews again. The subjects are the same but, if LeBron James doesn’t have his special, would Carmelo Anthony have his?

Kevin Durant may not like the media circus surrounding LeBron James. But that doesn’t mean he and others don’t follow his business plan.

Let’s take a look back a few years to 2016 when Kevin Durant shocked the basketball world by leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Golden State Warriors. His decision also garnered media criticism that seemingly bothers him to this day. No one could get over Durant leaving to join a team that beat his Thunder in the 7-game Western Conference Championship.

What got him through his decision?

He looked at James’ decision to leave Cleveland before he made his decision to leave OKC. It’s no secret that LeBron James likes playing with his friends like Wade in Miami. What was criticized and ridiculed back then is the norm these days.

Take a look at this past offseason for example. Now free agent players moved around the NBA, often opting to team up with friends, like Russell Westbrook moving to play with James Harden in Houston, or Durant joining Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets.

Players can now take advantage of the higher salary caps and endorsement deals that come with switching teams. No longer are NBA successes revolving around media markets (Something James Dolan is figuring out these days!). It’s about winning championships. Instead of practicing loyalty like Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic and Kobe Bryant of the ’80s and ’90s, many players will leave for the teams that guarantee wins.

Understanding the power of signing one-year deals in Cleveland, LeBron James exposed a loophole in the current salary cap system. Even though it drove David Griffin up a wall, it manipulated the balance of power from NBA front offices toward players when it comes to contracts and building rosters.

Notice the difference of what Kevin Durant did in Golden State?

There was none.

Time will tell overall what the totality of LeBron’s influence will be in all sports, but for right now, he has the power of “The King”.