By the numbers, if you look at how LeBron James makes his money, he is not a basketball player who sells shoes. He is a shoe salesman who plays basketball. Being an investor requires context and a strong knowledge of where your money comes from. That is a lesson LeBron learned from “Uncle” Warren Buffett.
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The two met while filming a promo video for Berkshire Hathaway but soon became fast friends and continue to support each other. James attends Buffet’s speeches, and the business magnate has attended many of the former MVP’s games.
Buffett has frequently stated how impressed he is with LeBron. While the sheer excellence of his basketball skill is unquestionable, Warren has focused on what he knows. From one billionaire to another, Buffett says James has a sharp financial and business intellect.
“If I’d had that much success that young, I’d have had trouble,” said Buffett, “but he’s been able to just be sensible and keep his head on straight. I admire him greatly. He’s one of my favorite nephews!”
The nephew moniker comes from a running joke between the two. James called Buffett his uncle years ago and the nickname just stuck. While James certainly doesn’t have money problems, it’s nice to have an uncle who is worth over 160 billion dollars, a larger amount of money than the GDP of around 100 countries.
While Buffett is known to be stingy with his money, he is certainly not stingy with his compliments of James.
“He has a money mind. He gets stuff.” – Warren Buffett
In a 2018 article with USA Today, Buffett couldn’t keep himself from lauding LeBron. He shared story after story and quote after quote praising the NBA star who was just off his eighth straight finals run.
“People really do have minds that function better than other people’s in certain areas that you can’t give a test for,” Buffett said in that USA Today interview. “And LeBron, in addition to a lot of other talents, he has a money mind. And he gets stuff.”
LeBron is known to pick things up extremely quickly. He was an early adopter of yoga and bio-hacking in NBA circles. He was early on the player investment train, like with his pizza chain Blaze Pizza. He was also quick to join other players acting in movies, although he might prefer if we all forgot that.
It is not hyperbolic to say the man is a genius on the basketball court. Maybe it’s time we start giving him credit off the court as well.
