Where there’s smoke, there’s fire between LeBron James and Amazon. The growing business relationship between the basketball superstar and the nation’s largest retailer could lead to King James eventually joining Prime Video’s upcoming coverage of the NBA, sources tell Front Office Sports.
The 40-year-old James humorously teased retirement in a new “What’s Next?” commercial for Prime Day 2025 from July 8–11. James (who drew rave reviews for his costarring role in the 2015 comedy Trainwreck) collaborated closely with Prime on creating the 60-second commercial, from brainstorming comedic bits to picking Phil Collins hit “In the Air Tonight” for his lounge-singer spoof.
While James recently feuded with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, the four-time champion effusively praised Prime’s NBA talent hires for the 2025–26 season, including Nash, his old Heat running mate Dwyane Wade, Dirk Nowitzki, and Candace Parker.
While the four-time MVP didn’t name-check anybody in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he’s previously criticized NBA media personalities on ESPN and TNT for being too negative about the league they cover.
Prime’s new NBA team comprises people who “know the game and appreciate the game and talk about the game in such a positive manner,” James told THR. “So, I think Amazon Prime Video, they’re going to do a great job showcasing our sport; [the talent] love(s) our sport. Great intellect, great commentary, great insight — I really look forward to that. And like I said, those guys that have signed up for it, they’re going to do great things.”
The big-budget Prime Day commercial is just the latest media collaboration between the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and Prime, with its massive customer base of more than 220 million customers worldwide.
- As part of its new Prime Day promotion, Amazon will offer 35% off deals on James’s “The Shop” Men’s Grooming line. His production company, SpringHill, also collaborates with Amazon. “Prime Day is our biggest moment of the year to make Prime members feel special and valued,” Amazon global chief creative officer Jo Shoesmith said in a statement. “Who better than LeBron James to show how getting a great deal can make anyone feel excited and ready to embrace ‘what’s next’?”
- James’s “Mind the Game” podcast with Steve Nash appears on Wondery, which was acquired by Amazon Music in 2020 for $300 million.
- The 21-time All-Star, who Forbes estimates has a net worth of $1.2 billion, sells products on Prime, including his We Are Family and Shooting Stars books.
Only James knows when he will hang up his sneakers after 22 seasons with The Association. He has a $52.2 million player option for the ‘25 season. If not this year then next, there will be “huge” interest among the league’s media partners—Prime, NBC Sports, and ESPN—when he calls it a career, predicts Alex Flanagan, the former sports anchor and sideline reporter turned vice president of broadcasting at The Montag Group.
Prime, NBC, and ESPN would be “compelled” to talk to James, say my sources. “That’s a meeting you have to take just to see what he wants to do,” said one executive who declined to be named. But ESPN might have the toughest recruitment given the bad blood between James and Smith. James physically confronted Smith in March over comments about his son Bronny. Smith told Rolling Stone there’s still hard-feelings. “I don’t like him, and he don’t like me,” said Smith.
Other factors are at work here, too. Flanagan tells me Tom Brady’s monster, 10-year, $375 million deal to call NFL games for Fox Sports has effectively reset the industry. It also opened the eyes of some superstars about the lucrative opportunity in sports media. Even the GOAT himself—Michael Jordan—is coming to TV as a “special contributor” to NBC’s NBA coverage this season (However, a source told FOS that reports of MJ’s $40 million annual payday are false).
James might want to nail down one of the most lucrative NBA TV jobs before Steph Curry, the 37-year-old Warriors superstar, follows him into retirement. Curry’s Dubs teammate Draymond Green also views media “as a big part of his future,” agent Josh Pyatt of WME told me in January.
“I would compare him to Tom Brady in football. I think LeBron has shown a much larger interest than Tom Brady did in the media from an early point in his career,” Flanagan says. “Gosh, to have a legacy like that. Can you imagine having an NBA broadcast with Michael Jordan and LeBron James?”
