Billionaire LeBron James backs $6 million-a-team youth league to rival Nike

American billionaire LeBron James and fellow NBA star Kevin Durant are backing a new under-18 basketball league that will pay high school players and sell its teams for $6 million each, setting up a challenge to the grassroots circuits run by Nike and other shoe companies.

The Futures Basketball League, announced on Nov. 10, will tip off in April 2027 with 12 regional teams and 120 players drawn from the high school classes of 2028 through 2031. The season will run through August across 10 league weekends in major U.S. markets and end with a national championship weekend.

James is investing through LRMR Ventures, which he leads with longtime business partner Maverick Carter. Durant is in through Boardroom Sports Holdings, run with his business manager Rich Kleiman. Jason Stein, the league's chairman and co-founder, is financing it through SC Holdings, the firm he co-founded with Daniel Haimovic. Carter, Kleiman, Stein and Haimovic sit on the board, with a fifth member to be named.

Teams sold so far have gone for $6 million each, and buyers also receive equity in the league. Former NBA most valuable player Derrick Rose has bought in and will run the Chicago team. Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero and media entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, with VaynerX's Ryan Harwood, are also founding owners. The league will run any teams it has not sold when play begins.

Players will earn name, image and likeness compensation rather than a salary, a structure meant to protect their college eligibility. Deals will go through the College Sports Commission to confirm fair market value, and players can take their pay in cash, league equity or a mix of both. The league has not disclosed how much it will pay, and players remain free to sign with outside brands, including footwear companies.

"The top 150 basketball players under 18 in the country play on over 200 different teams," Stein said. "And it's not fair they don't get fair value for their NIL and they don't get professional coaching structure."

Rose said the payments could be "life changing" for young players. "It's something that I wish that I would have had when I was playing when I was a youngster," he said.

The league lands in a summer window long controlled by Nike's Elite Youth Basketball League and rival circuits run by Adidas and Under Armour. Stein said he has had productive talks with the shoe companies and plans to work with them. Both James and Durant are longtime Nike athletes, and James signed a lifetime endorsement deal with the company in 2015.

Former NBA executive Samin Odhwani, who previously served as commissioner of Major League Pickleball, is the league's president. MADE Hoops, a youth basketball company backed by Durant and LRMR Ventures, is the operating partner, and games will be staged at convention centers hosting large youth events. The league plans to make money from sponsorships, media rights, merchandise and tickets, though no sponsor or broadcast deals have been announced.

James, 41, became the first active NBA player to reach billionaire status in 2022, according to Forbes. His fortune comes from more than $500 million in career playing salary, endorsement deals and media and investment holdings that include a minority stake in Fenway Sports Group, owner of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool Football Club.