Today, the relationship between Eddie Jackson and LeBron James may have been forgotten but the ones who followed the Chosen One in high school remember the ‘real estate’ swindler. Jackson was perhaps the closest to a father figure James had growing up. He was also Gloria’s ex-boyfriend.
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To his credit, Jackson handled his role as LeBron’s ‘father figure’ expertly. He ensured Gloria and James had everything they needed. Especially when LBJ caught the national spotlight, Jackson ensured he had everything that an athlete of his caliber required.
But Jackson, unfortunately, was a criminal. He had previously been arrested on drug-related charges and would again serve three years for mortgage fraud. But before he was convicted for the second time, Jackson and Gloria took a $100,000 loan to support LeBron James and his growingly popular career.
The loan however ended up becoming a problem for James in the future. In his rookie year, he faced a $15 million lawsuit because of the loan Gloria and Eddie had taken back in 2001.
LeBron James faced a $15 million lawsuit in 2003
In December of 2003, just a few months after his NBA debut, LeBron James faced a $15 million lawsuit. Joe Marsh, a famous promoter hailing from Akron, Ohio, claimed the 18-year-old Cavaliers star had backed out of a documentary contract.
Marsh was the same guy Eddie and Gloria had taken approached for the $100,000 loan. Joe had agreed to pay the money on the condition that he be given the rights to make a documentary on LBJ. Jackson agreed to the oral contract and Marsh began paying him the $100,000 loan in installments.
But as James gained popularity, he lost interest in Joe’s documentary and because the contract had been oral, backed out of it. He agreed to pay off the loan along with the interest but Marsh was after the documentary. In retaliation, the promoter sued the Cavaliers rookie for $15 million.
In his book LeBron James Inc.: The Making of a Billion Dollar Athlete, Brian Windhorst wrote of the incident in detail. He claimed that James, after becoming immensely popular, was keen on bringing in Spike Lee to direct his documentary. But when Marsh couldn’t get the legendary director on board, James backed out of the oral deal.
Windhorst: “He’d been on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He met Michael Jordan. He had less interest in working on a film with someone he’d never heard of. After meeting Spike Lee at an event when he was seventeen, James told Marsh he wanted to have Lee direct the documentary. Marsh tried to accommodate him but had trouble even reaching Lee. The documentary never got off the ground, and LeBron and Gloria ending up cutting off communication with Marsh. By the time LeBron was a high school senior, access to money and credit was no longer an issue. It was harsh, but to them, Marsh had served his purpose.”
The jury sided with LeBron
When Joe Marsh decided to file the lawsuit, LeBron James offered to repay the loan along with the interest. But Marsh was adamant he be paid for the loss of the potential revenue he could have created with James’ documentary. When LeBron disagreed, the case went to trial.
The Jury ruled in favor of LeBron. The lack of any physical contract proved advantageous for King James who avoided the situation by paying just the loan and the interest on it.
