Although LeBron James is close to retiring, his future plans are well known. “I want to own a team. I want to buy a team, for sure,” he said about NBA ownership. Adam Silver too has responded to those claims. However, there might be a major conundrum. Recently, his business partner Maverick Carter is rumored to raise $5 billion for an international league rivaling the NBA. This, according to Stephen A. Smith, could be a problem.

Not only does he not believe LeBron James not being involved, but Smith also thinks his NBA ownership dream could be in trouble. That’s mainly due to him feeling his “influence” has disappointed those who are in a position of power to join his investment group. At the same time though, Smith is against taking a stab himself.

Brian Windhorst feels irrespective of where “LeBron James has a big future in basketball”. And with that being said, he cheekily said he would join hands if he can’t find the investors. That also prompted a response from Stephen A. Smith.

“So would I,” he said about investing with the Akron Hammer. It’s mainly because, despite his opinion, he feels there is no better candidate to have that honor. “Let’s be clear to end this subject. LeBron James deserves to be an owner of an NBA franchise. There is no question that. For what he has done for the game but there are position of power he has alienated because of the influence they know he has with other players,” said Smith.

But what if that’s not the case?

LeBron James does have an offer on the table

It’s a long shot, but LeBron James has been extended an offer by two prominent people within the NBA circles. It happened on Shaquille O’Neal’s podcast. Shaq has long wanted to become an NBA owner too, trying to do so with the Orlando Magic in the past. He had Mark Cuban, the former majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks on his podcast.

As a hypothetical, they did discuss the NBA’s expansion plans. On that subject, Shaq proposed the question to Cuban. “Would you do it again?” he asked. The billionaire sold his stake in the Mavericks with his children in mind. He didn’t want to subject them to the pressure of handling something they may not want.

However, Cuban did say that if his children make their wishes clear, he would be willing to jump back in. And in that discussion, he opened the gates for LeBron James. “F**k Yeah. I would look at making a comeback… So, you know, we get me, you, LeBron, we might have something there,” Cuban told Shaq.

What’s better? Shaquille O’Neal didn’t take a second to say yes, albeit he would want a more relaxed role. That does sit well in the grand scheme as both Mark Cuban and James would be willing to do the hands-on work. But in the end, it all comes down to whether LeBron James would want it to.

It doesn’t seem like there would be any hurdles for him to raise partners. But would you want to see this trinity to be the ones to come together? Let us know your views in the comments below.