LEBRON James read The Hunger Games to help him relax during the 2012 NBA Finals. These days, his literary taste has stepped up a notch.
LeBron James #6 of the Miami Heat reads a book in the locker room prior to Game One of the 2012 NBA Finals against Oklahoma City Thunder at the Chesapeake Energy Arena
REMEMBER the stories about LeBron James reading books like The Hunger Games to help him relax before games during the 2012 NBA Finals?
It seems like the King’s literary taste has stepped up a notch.
ESPN.com reporter Ramona Shelburne recently visited James’s office at the marketing firm he created with long-time business partner Maverick Carter in Akron, Ohio.
On the shelves alongside a replica Batman mask were three books which offer a glimpse into the mindset of a man who stated right from the beginning of his career his intention of becoming a billionaire.
The first, Last Man Standing, tells the story of Jamie Dimon, the man who helped JP Morgan Chase turn a $5 billion profit during the global financial crisis while many other companies crumbled.
Alongside it is The Operator, a biography of music mogul David Geffen, whose dazzling career also included the roles of power agent, Broadway producer and billionaire Hollywood studio founder.
Then there’s Blockbusters, a study of the entertainment industry and what led to the success of certain businesses and stars by Anita Elberse, one of Harvard Business School’s most celebrated professors.
It’s clear James has big plans for his post-playing days.
“I know when LeBron was younger he said he wanted to be a billionaire,” his financial adviser, Paul Wachter, said.
“But I think (his) ambition is much broader than that. I think his ambition is to really understand the world and be a significant person.”
James has been making smart business decisions since he was a teenager.
Shelburne’s piece includes a great nugget about how James attended basketball camps run by Adidas and Nike in 2001 when he was 17.
He wore Nikes to the Adidas camp and Adidas sneakers to the Nike camp.
His gamesmanship prompted Reebok to enter the bidding before James ended up signing a record six-year $90 million endorsement deal with Nike. Before he’d played in the NBA.
James has become Nike’s signature athlete.
For his part, James believes his desire to maintain full control of his career and business dealings stems from growing up without a father.
“I think a lot of it comes from being an only child,” he told Shelburne, reflecting on the years when he and his mother, Gloria, lived a difficult, nomadic life in Akron.
“I had to become man of the house very fast. I felt empowered when I knew I had to grow up faster than the kids who had fathers, or maybe an older brother. That feeling stuck with me throughout grade school and high school.”
