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If you believe in the power of manifestation the way I do, then LeBron James is about to own an NBA team in Las Vegas in the very near future.
The King spoke about this dream of his on an upcoming episode of his HBO show “The Shop,” and he took that manifestation to another level by quote-tweeting the clip on Twitter with the caption: “Speaking It Into Existence!”
The truth is, James’ potential interest in a Vegas expansion team isn’t exactly new. Sports media personality Bill Simmons broached the subject on his podcast back in February, so it’s clearly something that’s been bubbling for a little while and probably has more legs than we realize.
James is part of Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Boston Red Sox among other properties, and reportedly has interest in a Vegas NBA team. An NBA spokesperson denied the report at the time, but the mayor of Las Vegas confirmed the city’s interest in an NBA team and having been in communication with commissioner Adam Silver.
Personally, I think it’d be very cool if James were part of an ownership group in Vegas. That market is already exploding with recent sports franchises like the Raiders, Aces and Golden Knights. And James’ presence would give an NBA team immediate credibility.
As his career winds down, a transition into ownership would also keep him around the game in a way that’s probably good for the league. It would also add another Black owner to the league’s ranks, which currently only includes Michael Jordan. That’s all before mentioning the league’s increasing sports betting presence.
The more I think it about it, this is something I’d like to see happen.
The Tip-Off
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
There’s been a lot of noise around Draymond Green over the last 24 hours about everything but basketball.
There’s the whole thing about the mean chants he received from Celtics fans during Game 3 and whether they were out of line, and then there’s the talk about his podcast and whether or not he should be doing it during the NBA Finals.
Well, Green had an opinion on that and shared it on, well, his podcast of course. My colleague Mike Sykes wrote about his response:
“Sure, it might be annoying that Draymond Green is podcasting. But it’s kind of cool to be getting these sorts of unfiltered thoughts directly from the player after the game. It can be too much at times, yes. But it still feels like a win for fans.
“The problem is the production isn’t quite there for Green — it’s not the podcast.”
And that gets the real root of the problem. If Green and his team play better, the noise isn’t as loud. That hasn’t been the case, but they still have a chance to change it.
One to Watch
(All odds via Tipico.)
Celtics (-180) vs. Warriors (+4.5, +145), O/U 213.5, Friday, 9 PM ET
Maybe I’ll have a more definitive pick tomorrow, but today I’ll just say take the over. Two of the three games have eclipsed this number and the Warriors aren’t guarding anybody right now.
Shootaround
— Our guy Bryan Kalbrosky has a new Mock Draft out now. Check it out.
— NBA fans had a lot of jokes about how sad Steph and Klay looked on the sideline of Wednesday’s loss.
— There’s a new No. 1 at the top of our NBA Finals MVP ladder.
— Charles Barkley thinks there’s too much sports betting. He may be right, but here’s why it doesn’t matter.
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