Lakers: Arnold Schwarzenegger Discusses Business Partnership with LeBron James

Actor and former professional body builder Arnold Schwarzenegger provides insight on the business mind of Lakers forward LeBron James

Lakers forward LeBron James has cemented himself as not only one of the top athletes in the world, but also a great businessman. James linked up with Arnold Schwarzenegger and became co-founders of their supplement company, Ladder. 

Ladder's supplements include plant based pre-workouts, nutrition shakes and protein powers, but the relationship between James and Schwarzenegger go beyond the workout world. The two men's bond began when James attended Schwarzenegger's fundraisers for his organization, Arnolds's All-Stars (quotes via Natasha Dye, People).

"I got to know LeBron...not only the one that you see on television when he plays the game...but the character of the guy."

James was already bigger than life with basketball and Schwarzenegger admitted to being a fan of James. To have a high caliber athlete come out to Schwarzenegger's fundraiser, which provides athletic and academic programs for underprivileged kids, spoke volumes as to the kind of character James has. 

"I was, as are millions of Americans, a big basketball fan of his. [And] LeBron all of a sudden started coming to our fundraisers."

The relationship between the two eventually grew and the more they talked about food supplements, the more the idea for Ladder came into fruition. 

"Why I got attracted to it was because LeBron cannot afford to have anything in a protein or in a food supplement that he takes that may have something that is enhancing, some drug of some sort. Something a lot of companies are opaque about."

With the amount of years James has played, especially at a high level, there's no doubt he watches what he puts into his body and in 2019, Ladder was formed. James now enters his 20th season and does not appear to be slowing down anytime soon thanks to his healthy habits.