LeBron James has ruled basketball courts for over two decades. Ever since Sports Illustrated dubbed him the Chosen One with a cover article when he was still only a high school junior, King James has made a compelling case to be called basketball’s GOAT. However, unlike many other pro athletes, he has never made playing ball an exclusive part of his personal identity.
Empowering people, especially the disenfranchised, has become a driving force in the man that LeBron has become. It is with this strong sense of purpose that LeBron, along with boyhood friend and business partner, Maverick Carter, has methodically been building an entertainment empire that strives to promote people of color and other underrepresented groups.
A story in Fast Company detailed the growth of their company SpringHill into much more than an entertainment company. The article states, “The most powerful SpringHill ideas are the ones that combine the company’s pillars of entertainment, branding, and purpose.”
Lebron grew up wanting to be a sports star, but he has become so much more. LeBron, and his team, have done a brilliant job of leveraging his basketball career into business and philanthropic opportunities that are rooted in the philosophy of helping others. It goes well beyond SpringHill. He has funded full ride college scholarships for thousands of young people in his hometown of Akron and opened his I Promise School that provides great educational opportunities to elementary and middle school students from local underserved communities.
As LeBron continues to evolve and grow from basketball player to community leader to social justice activist to entertainment tycoon, it is clear that his strong sense of who he is, where he came from, and where he is going has created a Hollywood story fit for a king.
Read the Fast Company story on SpringHill here and the Sports Illustrated cover story here.
Fast Company
https://www.fastcompany.com/90600374/springhill-most-innovative-companies-2021
Sports Illustrated
https://vault.si.com/vault/2002/02/18/ahead-of-his-class-ohio-high-school-junior-lebron-james-is-so-good-that-hes-already-being-mentioned-as-the-heir-to-air-jordan
