LeBron James Teases Broadcast Career Inspired by Tom Brady

The Los Angeles Lakers superstar mused on his future options over the weekend.
One of many post-playing career options for The King
One of many post-playing career options for The King / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
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As impossible as it is to believe, LeBron James's playing career will come to an end soon. Not immediately but certainly sooner rather than later. Which means the Los Angeles Lakers superstar will spend much of his media availability in the coming months and years fielding questions about what's next. What will LeBron pursue after conquering just about everything there is to conquer in the NBA world?

Such was the topic of discussion when James appeared on the GoJo and Golic podcast with Mike Golic and Mike Golic Jr. The elder Golic pointed out that James's basketball breakdowns, most strongly exhibitied on the Mind The Game podcast with his now-head coach J.J. Redick, were excellent and worthy of a proper broadcast. He asked James if he would consider entering the broadcast booth and follow the steps of fellow all-time great Tom Brady.

LeBron teased the possibility of putting on the headset while praising Brady's early days with Fox Sports.

"I definitely love the sport," James said. "I love basketball. I love football. And I watch it, not only as a fan but breaking down matchups and things of that nature. I was brought into sports. When you grow up in northeast Ohio, you grow up in sports. It would be great. I see Tom Brady doing it, he's been great so far. We will see. Even if it's just a guest appearance, one game or two when I'm done playing. It's always fun to give back to the game."

Most basketball fans would love James ending up in the booth once he hangs up the sneakers. He is the greatest basketball mind in the history of the sport and has already exhibited an ability to break down complicated concepts for a less-informed audience.

However, it would be quite the commitment, even more than what Brady signed up for. Brady will end up calling 20 games this season. James would be expected to call closer to 40 with how the NBA's national TV schedule shakes out— and that's before even taking the playoffs into account. It's a much more significant time investment and may not be terribly appealing to a guy who's spent over half his life adhering to the eight-month NBA calendar.

James would probably be good in the booth, if not great. Hopefully he finds himself there after he's done playing, even if only for a few guest appearances.


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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.