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USA Today via Reuters

USA Today via Reuters

NBA superstar LeBron James recently became the first ever active basketball player to become a billionaire. And it was no accident. James has made some very smart business decisions over the years that have helped him become a billionaire. It started even before he was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Top brands like Reebok, Adidas, and Nike were queuing up to get his signature. They were ready to throw millions and Reebok was the highest bidder. But he was not just looking at making fast money.

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So James signed with Nike because he believed the brand would be the better option for his future. And that has been so far. James is one of the important faces of the brand and they helped popularise him around the world with their marketing strategies. Even one of the most popular investors and philanthropists, Warren Buffett is a huge fan of James’ knowledge about business.

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As per reports, Buffett has a net worth of $97 million. Buffett is considered one of the best and most successful investors of all time. Also, he has pledged to give away 99 percent of his fortune to philanthropic causes.

Warren Buffett gave massive praise to LeBron James

In 2019, sportswriter Brian Windhorst authored ‘LeBron, Inc.: The Making of a Billion-Dollar Athlete’ was published. The book tells the story of James’s journey down the path to becoming a billionaire sports icon. Also, it captures the incredible transformation of the four-time champion from a basketball star to a sports and business mogul.

Interestingly, it also contained a quote by Warren Buffett about LeBron James. The quote read, “LeBron is very clever in the way he looks at his business off the court… I wish I was as smart about business when I was his age.”

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This coming from Buffett is really huge compliment given his successful investments over the years. Talking about it, Windhorst stated James reached out to Buffett to pick his mind about investments. At the time, he was just 23 years old. He also talked about some of James’ financial advisors that helped him.

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The Los Angeles Lakers star is constantly looking to make good investments. He has multiple times talked about his desire to own an NBA franchise. ‘King James’ had also disclosed that he wants his team to be based in Las Vegas. It will be interesting to see whether James will be an owner when the NBA decides to expand.