Cross LeBron James off the list of potential NBA expansion bidders.
On Wednesday, the four-time NBA champion dismissed the notion that he would be interested in owning a team in Las Vegas despite publicly entertaining the idea over the years.
“No I’m not,” James told reporters following the Lakers’ 124-116 win over the Rockets on Wednesday. “Not at all.”
The 41-year-old’s comments came hours after The Athletic reported that Fenway Sports Group—which James has a stake in and owns the Red Sox and Liverpool F.C.—would not pursue an expansion bid in Sin City because of the prospective price. FSG is currently in the process of selling the Pittsburgh Penguins to a Chicago-based investment firm, Hoffmann Family of Companies, for an estimated $1.7 billion.
James has been linked to NBA ownership and a potential franchise in Vegas for years. He first expressed interest in owning an NBA team during an appearance on the Open Run podcast in August 2016. “I want a team in Vegas,” he later said on The Shop in 2022.
The 41-year-old four-time MVP joined FSG in 2021 and took a 1% stake in the firm, which gave him co-ownership of the Red Sox and Roush Fenway Racing. Maverick Carter, James’s longtime friend and business partner, also has a stake in FSG. James and Carter both increased their stakes in FSG in 2023.
Next week, NBA owners are expected to vote on the league pursuing expansion bids in Las Vegas and Seattle, the two markets commissioner Adam Silver has long expressed interest in. The league is expecting expansion bids in the $7 billion to $10 billion range, according to ESPN, which could net the league’s owners more than $300 million per team.
