Chinese Investment Could Help Keep LeBron In Cleveland?; 7 Days Left

Many believe that the chances of LeBron James remaining in Cleveland are very slim since New York is the world's biggest media market and LeBron is the most marketable athlete in sports, and the Knicks have taken steps to give him a max contract in 2010. However his chances of staying in Cleveland could increase if part of the team is sold to a Chinese investment group. Majority owner of the Cavs, Dan Gilbert reportedly has a tentative agreement in place with Chinese investors that would allow them to purchase a stake in the franchise. The group is led by JianHua (Kenny) Huang, a Chinese businessman who has become successful by linking American and Chinese companies. Huang and several of his partners were in Cleveland and attended Games 1 and 2 of the Eastern Conference finals this week. They were all in Gilbert's courtside box Friday night to watch LeBron James hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to even the series with the Orlando Magic at one game apiece.

Such a deal would give the Cavaliers more capital, as well as position the team for new business ventures in China. Another perspective is that a move to bring in an additional investor indicates that Gilbert, who owns Quicken Loans, has been hit financially by the mortgage crisis in the U.S. "What Gilbert is acknowledging with this move is: a. Unlike James Dolan, Gilbert doesn't have the financial ability alone to handle the task of paying LeBron a king's ransom and keeping a championship team around him for the long term; b. The Knicks and New York are a very, very serious threat," Alan Hahn of Newsday writes in his blog.

Hahn also points out that Kobe Bryant has become "the biggest NBA star in China and there aren't any Chinese-based investors in the Lakers that made that so." Everyone is aware that LeBron has an ambition to become the first billion dollar athlete and in order to do so he needs to be marketed globally and not exclusively within the U.S. If this does go through it will open up James' profile to a huge overseas market even more so than it is. If the deal goes through, Chinese fans could start to feel a connection to James, and it could expand his business interests by remaining with the Cavs past next season when his contract with the team expires.

In other words, there is great potential in being with a franchise that has a deep relationship to China, maybe even more valuable than just playing in the largest market in America. "You have to think globally," LeBron said recently of his business interests. "I have a lot of fans in China, and they're important to me." LeBron and Nike, by far his largest sponsor, have been on a mission to create a bond with the Chinese since the three years before last summer's Beijing Olympics. James has made four visits to China, one with the Cavs as part of a preseason trip in 2007.

With basketball exploding in popularity among millions of young Chinese with exponentially growing buying power, LeBron has targeted opportunities in the Far East to make the same kind of marketing impact in modern China that Michael Jordan had in the United States in the late 1980s and 1990s. Only the market in China operates on a dramatically larger scale. Becoming the Jordan of China, from a marketing standpoint, would probably allow James to reach his goal of someday becoming the first billionaire athlete.

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