Over the course of his illustrious career, Los Angeles Lakers All-Star LeBron James has sought to build a legacy that extends into non-basketball spaces, including politics, culture and philanthropy.
James has led endless social initiatives to support the push for racial equality and better voting rights among minority groups, including the launch of the More Than a Vote group in 2020. On the entertainment side of things, the four-time NBA champion has been involved in multiple film and TV productions — such as “Space Jam: A New Legacy” which premiered last July.
Among his other pursuits, James holds stakes in non-basketball sports franchises as a partner of Fenway Sports Group. These include the Boston Red Sox, the Pittsburgh Penguins and English soccer club Liverpool.
The 36-year-old superstar’s ties to soccer will strengthen soon as Front Office Sports reports that James will be involved in a roll-out of a new product line with Liverpool:
Liverpool Chairman Tom Werner has confirmed that the club will launch a crossover product line with LeBron James ????
"I don’t know specifics yet… Nike is creating 7 or 8 products that connect LeBron with soccer."
LeBron is a partner at FSG, Liverpool's Parent Company. pic.twitter.com/dRvssj9Tve
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) November 29, 2021
Liverpool has thrived in recent years, winning its first top-tier title in three decades during the 2019-20 season. The team also triumphed in the Champions League the year before, the most prestigious club competition in soccer.
James highlights difficulty of winning in professional sports
Having claimed four NBA titles in his 19-year career, James knows a thing or two about winning in professional sports. The 17-time All-Star has dismissed the notion it’s difficult to win games this year despite the Lakers’ slow start to the 2021-22 season.
James said it has always taken a Herculean effort to win championships.
“No. I’ve never been in a situation throughout my career where I’ve always felt that games are more difficult to win than others,” he said. “It is hard to win a professional ballgame, and that’s the same for a football player, a baseball player, hockey player, soccer player.
“Professional sports are always difficult to win, no matter the outcome or the score, no matter how it may look from the outside looking in. It’s just difficult to win because we’re all pros. No matter who you’re going against, we’re all pros for a reason and it’s always challenging, especially when you know you’re gonna get everybody’s best shot every night.”
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