LeBron James may be preparing for his 23rd NBA season, but his influence continues to stretch far beyond the hardwood. According to Nikola Jokic’s agent, Misko Raznatovic, the four-time champion recently met with investors about a bold idea, the creation of a Europe-based basketball league designed to rival the NBA.
(Translated from Serbian to English)
“They are planning, a certain group of investors, classic business, to create a new league that would somehow also compete with the NBA. They don’t want it to be a U.S. league; they want it to have a European flavor, so to speak. And when they started working on it, everyone told them to call me.”
“I spoke a few times with Maverick Carter, where I got an official role as a consultant. He said it would be best to meet for lunch on a boat where LeBron would also attend. We had that meeting where we talked a lot about the new league, how it would be built and what would be done.”
Raznatovic, considered the most powerful basketball agent in Europe, spoke on the 6.75 Range podcast about an intriguing meeting that took place last month. A photo he posted of himself with LeBron on a yacht in Saint-Tropez had initially sparked speculation that the two were plotting a late-career partnership for Jokic and James. Instead, Raznatovic revealed that the conversation was much bigger than that.
The agent said he had already spoken several times with Maverick Carter, LeBron’s longtime business partner, before being asked to attend the lunch on the yacht where James himself was present.
What followed was an hour-long conversation about how such a league could be structured, from scheduling and travel to player recruitment and promotion.
The idea of a European Super League is not new. Adam Silver has publicly acknowledged the NBA’s interest in building out “NBA Europe” in the coming years, with potential conferences based in major cities across the continent. But James, who has already become a global business mogul with ventures spanning film, fashion, and media, could accelerate those plans with his own initiative.
For context, European basketball already has a strong structure in place through the EuroLeague, a competition historically dominated by clubs like Real Madrid, Panathinaikos, and CSKA Moscow. Legends such as Drazen Petrovic, Toni Kukoc, and now Luka Doncic came through the EuroLeague system before becoming global stars.
Still, Raznatovic’s comments suggest that a James-backed league could be positioned not just as a complement to the NBA, but as a genuine competitor.
Whether such a league would actually rival the NBA is another matter. The NBA’s infrastructure, financial muscle, and global marketing power remain unmatched.
But with European basketball’s popularity booming and players like Jokic, Luka, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Victor Wembanyama leading the NBA, the timing of LeBron’s interest is significant.
As Raznatovic put it, what began as a casual meeting has now sparked international intrigue. If James is serious, it could represent the biggest shift in the global basketball landscape since the NBA’s Dream Team opened the world’s eyes in 1992. And if anyone has the money, clout, and vision to make it happen, it’s LeBron James.
