(ThyBlackMan.com) Lebron James now has the ring he’s been seeking for a long time. But there is another way in which he stands out from the mass of Black athletes: he is harnessing his own financial prowess instead of passing it all across to the white corporate establishment.
Most of us do not understand that there is a game behind the games we love to watch: Professional basketball and football along with college basketball and football are all multi-billion dollar markets. My question to us is: Who is benefiting from all these billions? Yes, the players are getting paid millions now, but who is really benefiting and taking in the lion’s share? THE OWNERS.
Out of all sports, how many Black owners are there? None in baseball and 
football, and only one in basketball. So, the white establishment built around sports and entertainment is making billions and billions and billions off our labor – and free labor in college. Does this sound familiar? Only white slave owners, perhaps, had a better setup for themselves!
I will say this: a few of us are getting wise to the game. Lebron James has his own company now, the LRMR Marketing Company. Mr. James is doing the right thing: He did transfer a lot of wealth away from himself, but at least he realized his value in a very short period, and can now profit from it, instead of other people making the lion’s share off of his hard work. Apparently, he is getting good advice from people that know their stuff and care about him.
By contrast, consider the case of Michael Jordan: an article in Fortune magazine in 1998 shows much money companies had made off of former NBA superstar Michael Jordan. Now let’s keep it real: what is the percentage of Black people who read Fortune magazine? Most of us did not find out that a number of companies made at least a total of ten billion dollars off of Mr.Jordan – and that was a low estimate. Nike alone made billions off Mr.Jordan, and is still making money today. You would think, based on this article, Mr.Jordan should have been the first Black billionaire. But in my opinion, he didn’t know his value or what he was worth to the people he endorsed and made money for. The people who advised him may not have known (or cared) to help him realize his value to himself or his own people.
From Michael Jordan to Lebron James, the movement of a large portion of Black-generated wealth almost completely to the white establishment is still going on, and will continue until we wake up and change it. It is time for us to move beyond fans, players, and endorsers of other people’s products; it is time for us to become owners and producers of our own products so that our star athletes can endorse and support us. Lebron James has already made himself the champ of his own financial future: what are we going to do?
Staff Writer; Terrance Amen
This brother is also author of Black Unity: The Total Solution to Financial Independence and Happiness. For more information, go to http://www.blackunitythetotalsolution.com.