June 26, 2020 • 25 mins
On the eve of the pandemic, LeBron James and Maverick Carter -- lifelong friends from Akron who became business partners -- cut their biggest deal yet: a $100 million investment to create The SpringHill Co., a Nike-Disney-Patagonia hybrid. They want to change the way content is made, and consumed by the world. In an exclusive interview, James and Carter go deep with Jason Kelly about Black Lives Matter, Colin Kaepernick, and changing society by changing who's in the conversation.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Face is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason
Kelly from Bloomberg Radio. We're bringing you some of the
most important and informative conversations that we had throughout the
week on our daily radio show. And I gotta say,
one of the best conversations, Jason, was one that you
had this week. Well, I appreciate that it was one
that I was looking forward to timely, to say the least.
(00:22):
King James himself, Lebron James, his longtime friend and business
partner Maverick Carter. I had talked with them in February.
I caught up with them again this week, all about
their company, the spring Hill Company that they are launching,
but more importantly this moment and whether it will be
more than that, Lebron. It seems to be a moment
(00:44):
where we're all viewing activism in a much broader sense.
And I wonder as a longtime activist, as someone who
calls back in the interview that you and I had,
the three of us had in February, you talked about
Muhammad Ali, you know, an amazing activist in his own right. Now,
activism is something that we see everywhere. Is this a moment,
(01:08):
a special moment, in an important moment for activism in
your mind. UM, I think it's a special moment in
the sense that, UM, you can be heard active activism
and activists have always been around. UM what people had
a closed ear in a closed mind, UM, and didn't
want to recognize and didn't want to hear it, didn't
(01:28):
want to be UM, knowledgeable about what they were speaking,
where they were coming from, the passion that they were
speaking with. UM. Now it's it's being heard. People can
be heard. Black Americans, African Americans, you know, can be heard,
both men and women can be heard. UM. What they're
passionate about and the calling for help and the calling
(01:51):
for we're being We're just tired. So you know, I
don't want to say activism is something that's UM. You
know now everyone's doing it. Now. It's always been a
down but you know, in the in the case of
George Floyd, in the case of so many other innocent
lives being taken away. UM, they've put up a stand
and and now you know, we're being heard, and everyone
(02:13):
is being heard. UM, not only UM. You know, from
from what Muhammad Ali was saying and so many that
came before him and so many after him, but even
the local people, the people in the community, because those
are the real ones, the people that's in the communities,
that's living and walking those streets and being racialistically profiled
and being judged every day that they walk in their cities.
(02:33):
They're the ones that need to be heard, and they're
being heard right now, and it's it's great to see.
And so what does it feel like in in Akron?
I mean, you talked about Los Angeles a little bit,
but you know, you and Maverick have said often that
so much of what animates you started in Akron. You
guys met when you were children, and I wonder how
(02:54):
this feels there Lebron. No, absolutely, um, we always we
always recognize where home is and home base it starts there,
you know, having my high primary school here and understanding
the um you know the level of importance with my kids,
and you know when the pandemic, when when COVID started,
it was, it was it was kind of heartbreaking because
(03:15):
I knew that my kids would have to leave the school.
We had to shut down our school for a period
of time. And I understand how important structure is and
hands on is with my kids in my school. So
you know that was very troubling times for me and
troubling times for our facult team members and everyone that
had to do with the I p S. Because you know,
we're so used to having our kids and we and
(03:35):
we know how important having them in the classroom and
having them underneath our our wing and our and our guidance. UM.
So we're always paying attention to our hometown and listening
to the people, listening to what's going on there. Um
So that is constant every single day, no matter um.
You know, me and Maverick living in Los Angeles, we
(03:56):
we have hands on and and and our ears to
what's going on in our home out of acronhol Is.
With Maverick, one of the things that you did during
the pandemic that was forced by the pandemic was graduated together.
Tell me why that was so important and what was
different about it and what it represented for spring Hill
(04:17):
and what it says about the opportunity. Yeah, obviously, the
pandemic unfortunately forced all of students back home and and
and as Lebron said, unfortunately the kids the students that
I a school like, I promise the school is for
a lot of those kids the safest places where they
get the most structure because home is tough, and and
(04:39):
and especially for seniors, right high school seniors who didn't
you know, get the chance to graduate and walk across
the stage and get the diploma, which is a big
moment for all of us, and and and even a
person like me, it's the only graduation I've ever had,
it's the only graduation Lebron has ever had. So it's
very memorable, and it's an important moment and everyone's lives.
(05:00):
So at the company, we got approached um by partners
to come along and produce graduate together and do it
with with Lobray and Polo Jobs Company, And it was
just important that we really over delivered for those students,
for those kids, it wasn't about us, It wasn't about
the networks. Lebron did the fantastic job hosting. We were
(05:23):
fortunate enough to have UH President Barack Obama deliver the
commencement speech. But it wasn't about Lebron. It wasn't about Obama,
wasn't about us as a company. It was about creating
a special memorable moment for those students, just like we all.
We got the chance to do when we actually got
to experience it live. Unfortunately they didn't. They had to
(05:45):
do in their living rooms with their families. And that's
what made me very happy and proud is all the
text that I received from from families and parents who
said that was a special moment for my graduating senior
and now they ease have something they can remember it by.
And we did a T shirt. We wanted to make
it as special as possible and do it in the
(06:06):
spring Hill Away, which is bringing to life as a
as a show on Network TV. We did an after
party on on Uninterrupted Instagram Live channel, and we brought
a product, so we wanted to really give them a
full three sixty moments so they felt very memorable and
something they could always remember, just as though they could
do it live and in person and Lebron we moved
(06:29):
from that to More Than a Vote that was launched
officially this week. What does success look like from More
Than a Vote as you look toward November? UM, I
think success looks like UM educating the people that's on
the grounds in these cities that we're tackling. UM. You know,
we've had voter suppression for so for so long, people
(06:52):
not understanding, UM, how they can vote, where they're where
they can vote, if their vote really counts. UM. You
know in the black community, you know you always here,
go out and vote. But what you don't understand is
who am I voting for? Where can I vote? How
many people am I voting for? What does these votes mean?
(07:12):
What do they stand for? UM? So the education side, UM,
is what we're most proud about. That is success for
us where we're actually getting UM, these communities out to vote,
but they are even more educated on who they're voting for,
how they can vote, where they can vote. UM. They
have that power. UM. There's some there's a lot of
(07:34):
people that believe that they can't vote because they've had
previous convictions with the law or or or they've been
to jail and they've been told that they cannot vote,
that their vote UM does not get submitted to things
of that nature, which is untrue. UM. And a lot
of states that we're tackling, so to educate and to
make aware of the people that's on the ground, that
(07:56):
has a lot to do with the future of our country. UM.
That is one of the success that we can have.
And we'll see what happens in November. And Maverick, I
do wonder you know to speak to this moment where
where we are, given that you were positioned to do
this via spring Hill. What are the conversations that are
(08:17):
incoming to you, whether it's from studios, whether it's from
CEOs of companies, or your calls getting returned more or
there is there more interest in what you're doing, given
that the world does seem to be moving in this moment. Yeah,
and and you keep calling it a moment. Hopefully it's
(08:39):
not just a moment, right, I don't want to call
it a moment. This is this is what's needed. This
is actually more like what this country should be and
what this world should be. So it's it's it's not
a moment. I don't it doesn't. It doesn't feel at
all like a moment to me. As I said, I've
been blacked my whole life, right, so, and and and
and pushing to empower people and specifically black people my
(09:01):
whole life. And you know, our company, as I said,
if you look at what we made long before this time,
we made self Made on Netflix, right, we made Shut
Up and Dribble on Showtime. So we've always been about
empowering people who feel like us and come from the
communities that we come from and want to believe in
our mission. And we've the content we've created. Who we've
(09:22):
created that content with has always been about that. And
I think for us as a company, people already understood
and felt and new and could feel the essence of
what we're doing. It's obviously a bit magnified now. So
the conversations that are internally with with all of us
and the people who work at our company are pretty
much the same. We're getting some external calls that hey,
(09:46):
if you guys have ideas that want to help us, sure,
And me personally, I am getting a lot of calls
from people other you know, um CEO s. I happen
to serve on the board of Latin Nations, so I'm
spending a lot of time with them. And I've learned
a lot from my Rapino actually, who's the CEO of
Live Nation, about being deliberate and and he actually is
the one who taught me like to change things like this,
(10:09):
going back to what happened with companies and me too,
and changing how women are treated. What position to get
in the company, you have to be delivered. I think
that's what companies have to do. They have to say, hey,
set put a date on it, and put it them
out that a year from now we need five black
people at the top of the company. You have to
be that deliberate and I've learned that from Micael, and
(10:30):
I've also got a lot of calls on you know, what,
what are you doing? What do you think? What do
you think we should be doing? So I'm taking those
all in the stride and explaining to people, as I
just said to you, and hey, this don't treat this
as a moment. This isn't a moment. This is what
you should have been doing all along, and this is
what everyone needs to be doing going forward anyway, And
still Lebron to that point, what can you do given
(10:54):
your stature, to ensure that this isn't fleeting? What are
the things that we need to be and thinking about
what can you do to really take this forward? In
many ways? What are you thinking about? Well, for me,
my mission doesn't change. Um, I've been doing this since
day one, you know, and Marverages touched on a lot
about our brand and our company and what we've been doing.
(11:16):
But you know, even since I you know, came out,
you know, from from high school to the NBA. You know,
instead of going with a company, I decided to hire
my friends. I decided to have hire my friends. Um
that I believe we can all grow together. We can,
we can we can have shortcomings, we can have bumps
in the row, but at the end of the day,
and we stick with one another and we're true to
(11:38):
each other, and we can build this together. So I've
been doing this since day one, So my mission has
not changed at all. Continue to educate myself because the
more educated I am than the people around me will
get educated as well, and continue to pass that down
to the youth. I mean, the youth is our future.
I mean we look at the class of this year,
the high school graduation, and there's nothing that they will
(11:59):
not be ready for after having a year like this,
you know. So for me to have the knowledge that
I have in the blueprints that I have to be
able to continue to pass it down to the generation
below me, to the generation that's with me, and continue
to understand how important UM, these times if every day
is it's not being a leader. It's not when it's
(12:20):
not about when you decide to do it. It's every
single day. If you want to be a leader, you
call yourself a leader has to be every single day
that you wake up and you jump out of your
bed and people are gonna follow you then, and people
are gonna understand you and understand that you're not perfect,
but they know you are true to them. So you know,
my mission has always been that and it will it
will not change. I will continue to point out things
(12:42):
that I know is wrong, um if I see it, um,
not only socially but also with cameras in my face.
And I will also continue to lead by example as
a model citizen, as a black man growing up UM
in America. So my mission stays the same, Lebron, I
do wonder. I think back to and and Eric Gardner
(13:02):
and the T shirt UH that you wore. And the
NBA has consistently stood behind you and its players in
terms of protests. Other leagues have not done that, most
notably the NFL. Now the NFL has changed its tune.
What do you make of that? UM? I do know
one thing I can speak from is what I'm a
(13:22):
part of. And I'm a part of the league with
a great commissioner and Adam Silver and he's always listened
to the voice of his players. UM, and I've always
respected him with that for that. UM, he's given us
an opportunity to when we feel something that's very wrong
with society, that's very wrong with what's going on in
our communities, that we could speak upon that and use
the NBA shield to back us. And UM, I have
(13:44):
nothing but respect for Adam Silver. Um. As far as
the NFL, I'm not in those locker rooms. I'm not
with those guys, but I do understand UM that an apology.
I have not heard true official apology to Colin Kaepernick
on what he was going through and what he was
trying to tell the NFL and tell the world about
while he was kneeling when he was doing that as
(14:06):
a San Francisco forty niner. UM. So I just see
that to be still be wrong. UM. And now they
are listening some, but I still think, UM, we have
not heard that official apology to a man who basically
sacrificed everything for the better at his world. So UM,
I can say that about about that. And Maverick, I
wonder about the Kaepernick issue from from your perspective knowing
(14:30):
the business world, the endorsement world, the economic element of this,
How does that change going forward? Given that, I think
it's fair to say Colin Kaepernick was vindicated in a
lot of senses. Yeah, well, I think you know. The
fact of the matter is, Um, Colin Kaepernick did what
was on his heart. He did what he felt was right.
(14:53):
He took all the right steps. People always obviously look
over that he met with the military. Uh. I think
it was a marine or maybe even a navcal that
told him sitting was the wrong thing to do. That
he should knew. That's where he actually got the idea.
He took the right steps. But I think as black people,
you know, we've been ringing this alarm for a long time,
(15:14):
and and and and the rest of the country. Who
are you know, I happen to believe most people are good,
So who are not even racist have just been hitting
snooze on it because it's just the system has been
set up in a way that even if you're not racist, right,
that you still perpetuate a system that oppresses black people.
(15:38):
And and and I keep telling people biased and racist
get the same results. So if I worked at Bloomberg
and I you just gravitated as a human to the
people who went to the same school as you, drink
the same beer as you, go to the same place
to hang out as you. So therefore you don't have
to be racist to still be in a system that
(16:00):
oppresses black people. And I think, you know, we've been
saying this a long time, that this is this is
what this is. It's in the fabric of America, it's
in the DNA was actually designed that way. And unless
we actually stop and really make hard turns and changes
to reverse the social, political, and economic systems, then it's
(16:22):
still gonna go on. And many people go, well, I'm
not racist. I go, you're not, but you still have
benefited from a system and perpetuated system that oppresses black people.
So I think Colin definitely champion that in a big way.
But this has been going on for hundreds of years,
and black people have been saying this for hundreds of years. Lebron,
I do want to ask you about something that we
(16:43):
have talked about before that it has continued to be
an issue, and that is China. Obviously, a little less
than a year ago, you made some comments that people
disagreed with. You've gotten some criticism lately from activist Joshua
Wong about your comments are lack thereof related to China?
(17:03):
What have you learned from that whole incident? I think
you know for me personally, like I told you before, Jason, Um,
you know when you speak about things that I'm knowledgeable
about that I'm educated on um. And at the end
of the day, right right is right, and wrong it's wrong,
and UM, I want the better I want the betterment
of people, no matter skin color, no matter race, no
(17:26):
matter anything. So you know I'm in a position of that,
you know. So UM. You know that's what you always
learn from from anything that you do in life. You
is always uh, you know, learning mechanisms is always you know,
people are gonna agree with you, some people are gonna
disagree with you, um, but you can't allow that to
stop your journey and um, and that's what it's all
(17:46):
about for me. So when you think about what happens
next from an NBA perspective, Lebron, Uh, assuming that everything
stays the same, you gotta be playing basketball pretty soon,
which feels like good news for for a lot of folks,
and I would imagine especially you. Given the position the
Lakers were in going into all this, Kyrie Irving has said,
(18:10):
and I believe you have disagreed that maybe you should
think about not playing. What do you think? Well for
me personally, UM, you know, I love the game of basketball,
UM and UM, and I want to continue to play. UM.
I believe that sports UM in general, UM has done
so many great things for for communities, UM, for households,
(18:34):
bringing people together. UM. And more importantly, UM, like you
said earlier, with our our commissioner and our league, has
always allowed us to express the values and things that's
going on in our lives. So UM, you know, for
us to be at it together as a league once
again along was going on right now, it gives us
another opportunity to continue to talk about, UM, what's going on,
(18:55):
to social injustice, the police brutality, UM, you know, black
lives matter, and continue to hit home on things that's
going on that matters a lot as well. UM. But
but sports has always been something that kind of gavlanized
and brought people together and and and you know, just
make people feel you know, very uplifted. And I know
in my community right now, we just unfortunately a beautiful
(19:18):
eighteen year old girl by the name of the Kia
Crawford was just gunned down, UM and and Akron, Ohio
last week, a week after graduating high school. UM. You know,
so you know, just to get people's minds UM. Not
saying forget about certain situations, but to just have a
breath of fresh air, to have a breath of a
(19:39):
sense of love. UM. What what sports can bring. And
I know what I do on the basketball court can
bring a lot of happiness to a lot of households,
including my own, and including my community and my kids.
So I'm looking forward to the season getting restarted, getting
back in the Laker uniform. UM, and continue to to
to push the envelope not only on the court but
(20:00):
off the court, because like I've been telling a lot
of my colleagues, a lot of my friends, I won't
stop until I see change, and I mean real change
for us as a community, as a Black community, both
on and off the floor. So my mission stays the same.
I do wonder for both of you and and taking
your point, which is a good one, Maverick, that this
(20:21):
is more than a moment, and I think we all
hope that it will be more than a moment, and
maybe it's an inflection point we hope that to be
the case. There is a gravity, there's a weight to this,
and I wonder, and maybe Maverick, I'll start with you,
do you feel that way? Do you feel like there's
pressure to to do something to ensure that this isn't
(20:44):
just a moment. I feel that people are finally paying
attention and focusing on it, right, And and people who
again who are definitely not racist, are now even focused
on it, right because the four people go, well, I'm
not racist, I'm it's fine, everything's fine. And I think,
you know, part of it was, you know, in some
(21:07):
ways it's funny because when you know, you see a
black man like Lebron or a black man like Obama
who who achieved the ultimate levels of success in this
in America allows people to say, well, look, America is fine.
We have a black president. We have a black man
who started off in the projects of accurate and reached
(21:28):
the heights of the world and and and just about
concret the world. But that's not true, right, That's and
I think that's what we have. We finally have people
paying attention that, no, this isn't just about people flying
Confederate flags and disliking or being hateful towards anyone who
is not of their race. This is actually about a system.
(21:49):
It's actually systematic. It's not about just it's not simple.
The Confederate flag is just a symbol that stood for
something right. But but go past the people are like,
well if I don't, I don't have a Confederate flag
at my house, I'm not I get along with everybody.
That's true, but you still participate in this system that
(22:10):
needs change, and I think we finally have people paying
attention to that. Lebron. The final question to you is
is similar to that I watched an episode of The
Shop where you talked about the pressure you felt the
weight of a city when you were growing up as
a teenager. You're on the cover of Sports Illustrated as
a junior in high school. That felt like pressure. I know,
(22:31):
especially for a kid. What does the pressure feel like now? Um,
it's it's the same. It's the same, but it's my
responsibility and I'm okay having um that pressure of my
community and other black communities across America. UM that that
look up to me and look to me for inspiration
(22:52):
or for guidance or for which way are we're going Uh,
you know, I think it's just my responsibility. And I
completely under saying that, and I represent that with the
utmost respect. And uh you know, so every day, like
I said, I leave my home or um you know,
I wake up out of my bed. I understand that
it's not just about me. You know, I'm representing so
(23:13):
many people. UM. You know obviously my family, my wife,
my three kids, UM and everyone that's um you know,
part of my family and friends and my type group,
but also um, you know, the communities that do not
have a voice, the individuals that do not have a
voice that's going through a lot of their shortcomings and
a lot of the adverse moments that I went through
as a kid as well. So for me to be
(23:34):
able to um lighten and and righten you know a
lot of people to what's going on in these communities,
UM and let their voices be heard is something that
I walk with every day and the responsibility that I
walk with. UM. So you know, you can look at
it this pressure, um you know, but you know pressure
bus bus pipes and a lot of people's mindset. But
(23:57):
in mind you know, pressure creates diamonds and that's what
that's what it's all about here, Lebron James, Maverick Carter,
thank you so much. Really enjoyed catching up with you.
Thank And that's Lebron James, Star of course of the
Los Angeles Lakers, and maybe more importantly for this conversation,
chairman of the spring Hill Company, his business partner, the
(24:18):
CEO of that company, Maverick Carter. They've known each other
since they were kids. Carol. This is a special relationship
and where they are in the culture, where they are
right now is incredibly, incredibly important. And what I think
is really fascinating, Jason, considering the backdrop of the last
month that we've been talking about diversity and racism in America,
(24:38):
I feel like this is a company for where we
need to be today. They kind of set the model well,
and what you just heard, it's just scratching the surface.
For the full interview, download the podcast. Just go to
our podcast feed you can get the whole thing. And
let me tell you, it was wide ranging. We talked
a lot about the issues of the day. We talked
a little bit about basketball, but also to your point, Carol,
(24:59):
where we go from here, And I have to say
it's a bit of a bracing conversation at times, because
Maverick Carter especially talks about racism, talks about what he
has experienced, but also what it means to ultimately enable
this system that we've all been being a part of,
and hopefully what we can do about it. I'm just
gonna say it's a must read, it's a must listen,
(25:21):
and it's a must watch because you can check out
your TV special and your conversation with both of them
on Blueboard TV. This is bo
Face is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason
Kelly from Bloomberg Radio. We're bringing you some of the
most important and informative conversations that we had throughout the
week on our daily radio show. And I gotta say,
one of the best conversations, Jason, was one that you
had this week. Well, I appreciate that it was one
that I was looking forward to timely, to say the least.
(00:22):
King James himself, Lebron James, his longtime friend and business
partner Maverick Carter. I had talked with them in February.
I caught up with them again this week, all about
their company, the spring Hill Company that they are launching,
but more importantly this moment and whether it will be
more than that, Lebron. It seems to be a moment
(00:44):
where we're all viewing activism in a much broader sense.
And I wonder as a longtime activist, as someone who
calls back in the interview that you and I had,
the three of us had in February, you talked about
Muhammad Ali, you know, an amazing activist in his own right. Now,
activism is something that we see everywhere. Is this a moment,
(01:08):
a special moment, in an important moment for activism in
your mind. UM, I think it's a special moment in
the sense that, UM, you can be heard active activism
and activists have always been around. UM what people had
a closed ear in a closed mind, UM, and didn't
want to recognize and didn't want to hear it, didn't
(01:28):
want to be UM, knowledgeable about what they were speaking,
where they were coming from, the passion that they were
speaking with. UM. Now it's it's being heard. People can
be heard. Black Americans, African Americans, you know, can be heard,
both men and women can be heard. UM. What they're
passionate about and the calling for help and the calling
(01:51):
for we're being We're just tired. So you know, I
don't want to say activism is something that's UM. You
know now everyone's doing it. Now. It's always been a
down but you know, in the in the case of
George Floyd, in the case of so many other innocent
lives being taken away. UM, they've put up a stand
and and now you know, we're being heard, and everyone
(02:13):
is being heard. UM, not only UM. You know, from
from what Muhammad Ali was saying and so many that
came before him and so many after him, but even
the local people, the people in the community, because those
are the real ones, the people that's in the communities,
that's living and walking those streets and being racialistically profiled
and being judged every day that they walk in their cities.
(02:33):
They're the ones that need to be heard, and they're
being heard right now, and it's it's great to see.
And so what does it feel like in in Akron?
I mean, you talked about Los Angeles a little bit,
but you know, you and Maverick have said often that
so much of what animates you started in Akron. You
guys met when you were children, and I wonder how
(02:54):
this feels there Lebron. No, absolutely, um, we always we
always recognize where home is and home base it starts there,
you know, having my high primary school here and understanding
the um you know the level of importance with my kids,
and you know when the pandemic, when when COVID started,
it was, it was it was kind of heartbreaking because
(03:15):
I knew that my kids would have to leave the school.
We had to shut down our school for a period
of time. And I understand how important structure is and
hands on is with my kids in my school. So
you know that was very troubling times for me and
troubling times for our facult team members and everyone that
had to do with the I p S. Because you know,
we're so used to having our kids and we and
(03:35):
we know how important having them in the classroom and
having them underneath our our wing and our and our guidance. UM.
So we're always paying attention to our hometown and listening
to the people, listening to what's going on there. Um
So that is constant every single day, no matter um.
You know, me and Maverick living in Los Angeles, we
(03:56):
we have hands on and and and our ears to
what's going on in our home out of acronhol Is.
With Maverick, one of the things that you did during
the pandemic that was forced by the pandemic was graduated together.
Tell me why that was so important and what was
different about it and what it represented for spring Hill
(04:17):
and what it says about the opportunity. Yeah, obviously, the
pandemic unfortunately forced all of students back home and and
and as Lebron said, unfortunately the kids the students that
I a school like, I promise the school is for
a lot of those kids the safest places where they
get the most structure because home is tough, and and
(04:39):
and especially for seniors, right high school seniors who didn't
you know, get the chance to graduate and walk across
the stage and get the diploma, which is a big
moment for all of us, and and and even a
person like me, it's the only graduation I've ever had,
it's the only graduation Lebron has ever had. So it's
very memorable, and it's an important moment and everyone's lives.
(05:00):
So at the company, we got approached um by partners
to come along and produce graduate together and do it
with with Lobray and Polo Jobs Company, And it was
just important that we really over delivered for those students,
for those kids, it wasn't about us, It wasn't about
the networks. Lebron did the fantastic job hosting. We were
(05:23):
fortunate enough to have UH President Barack Obama deliver the
commencement speech. But it wasn't about Lebron. It wasn't about Obama,
wasn't about us as a company. It was about creating
a special memorable moment for those students, just like we all.
We got the chance to do when we actually got
to experience it live. Unfortunately they didn't. They had to
(05:45):
do in their living rooms with their families. And that's
what made me very happy and proud is all the
text that I received from from families and parents who
said that was a special moment for my graduating senior
and now they ease have something they can remember it by.
And we did a T shirt. We wanted to make
it as special as possible and do it in the
(06:06):
spring Hill Away, which is bringing to life as a
as a show on Network TV. We did an after
party on on Uninterrupted Instagram Live channel, and we brought
a product, so we wanted to really give them a
full three sixty moments so they felt very memorable and
something they could always remember, just as though they could
do it live and in person and Lebron we moved
(06:29):
from that to More Than a Vote that was launched
officially this week. What does success look like from More
Than a Vote as you look toward November? UM, I
think success looks like UM educating the people that's on
the grounds in these cities that we're tackling. UM. You know,
we've had voter suppression for so for so long, people
(06:52):
not understanding, UM, how they can vote, where they're where
they can vote, if their vote really counts. UM. You
know in the black community, you know you always here,
go out and vote. But what you don't understand is
who am I voting for? Where can I vote? How
many people am I voting for? What does these votes mean?
(07:12):
What do they stand for? UM? So the education side, UM,
is what we're most proud about. That is success for
us where we're actually getting UM, these communities out to vote,
but they are even more educated on who they're voting for,
how they can vote, where they can vote. UM. They
have that power. UM. There's some there's a lot of
(07:34):
people that believe that they can't vote because they've had
previous convictions with the law or or or they've been
to jail and they've been told that they cannot vote,
that their vote UM does not get submitted to things
of that nature, which is untrue. UM. And a lot
of states that we're tackling, so to educate and to
make aware of the people that's on the ground, that
(07:56):
has a lot to do with the future of our country. UM.
That is one of the success that we can have.
And we'll see what happens in November. And Maverick, I
do wonder you know to speak to this moment where
where we are, given that you were positioned to do
this via spring Hill. What are the conversations that are
(08:17):
incoming to you, whether it's from studios, whether it's from
CEOs of companies, or your calls getting returned more or
there is there more interest in what you're doing, given
that the world does seem to be moving in this moment. Yeah,
and and you keep calling it a moment. Hopefully it's
(08:39):
not just a moment, right, I don't want to call
it a moment. This is this is what's needed. This
is actually more like what this country should be and
what this world should be. So it's it's it's not
a moment. I don't it doesn't. It doesn't feel at
all like a moment to me. As I said, I've
been blacked my whole life, right, so, and and and
and pushing to empower people and specifically black people my
(09:01):
whole life. And you know, our company, as I said,
if you look at what we made long before this time,
we made self Made on Netflix, right, we made Shut
Up and Dribble on Showtime. So we've always been about
empowering people who feel like us and come from the
communities that we come from and want to believe in
our mission. And we've the content we've created. Who we've
(09:22):
created that content with has always been about that. And
I think for us as a company, people already understood
and felt and new and could feel the essence of
what we're doing. It's obviously a bit magnified now. So
the conversations that are internally with with all of us
and the people who work at our company are pretty
much the same. We're getting some external calls that hey,
(09:46):
if you guys have ideas that want to help us, sure,
And me personally, I am getting a lot of calls
from people other you know, um CEO s. I happen
to serve on the board of Latin Nations, so I'm
spending a lot of time with them. And I've learned
a lot from my Rapino actually, who's the CEO of
Live Nation, about being deliberate and and he actually is
the one who taught me like to change things like this,
(10:09):
going back to what happened with companies and me too,
and changing how women are treated. What position to get
in the company, you have to be delivered. I think
that's what companies have to do. They have to say, hey,
set put a date on it, and put it them
out that a year from now we need five black
people at the top of the company. You have to
be that deliberate and I've learned that from Micael, and
(10:30):
I've also got a lot of calls on you know, what,
what are you doing? What do you think? What do
you think we should be doing? So I'm taking those
all in the stride and explaining to people, as I
just said to you, and hey, this don't treat this
as a moment. This isn't a moment. This is what
you should have been doing all along, and this is
what everyone needs to be doing going forward anyway, And
still Lebron to that point, what can you do given
(10:54):
your stature, to ensure that this isn't fleeting? What are
the things that we need to be and thinking about
what can you do to really take this forward? In
many ways? What are you thinking about? Well, for me,
my mission doesn't change. Um, I've been doing this since
day one, you know, and Marverages touched on a lot
about our brand and our company and what we've been doing.
(11:16):
But you know, even since I you know, came out,
you know, from from high school to the NBA. You know,
instead of going with a company, I decided to hire
my friends. I decided to have hire my friends. Um
that I believe we can all grow together. We can,
we can we can have shortcomings, we can have bumps
in the row, but at the end of the day,
and we stick with one another and we're true to
(11:38):
each other, and we can build this together. So I've
been doing this since day one, So my mission has
not changed at all. Continue to educate myself because the
more educated I am than the people around me will
get educated as well, and continue to pass that down
to the youth. I mean, the youth is our future.
I mean we look at the class of this year,
the high school graduation, and there's nothing that they will
(11:59):
not be ready for after having a year like this,
you know. So for me to have the knowledge that
I have in the blueprints that I have to be
able to continue to pass it down to the generation
below me, to the generation that's with me, and continue
to understand how important UM, these times if every day
is it's not being a leader. It's not when it's
(12:20):
not about when you decide to do it. It's every
single day. If you want to be a leader, you
call yourself a leader has to be every single day
that you wake up and you jump out of your
bed and people are gonna follow you then, and people
are gonna understand you and understand that you're not perfect,
but they know you are true to them. So you know,
my mission has always been that and it will it
will not change. I will continue to point out things
(12:42):
that I know is wrong, um if I see it, um,
not only socially but also with cameras in my face.
And I will also continue to lead by example as
a model citizen, as a black man growing up UM
in America. So my mission stays the same, Lebron, I
do wonder. I think back to and and Eric Gardner
(13:02):
and the T shirt UH that you wore. And the
NBA has consistently stood behind you and its players in
terms of protests. Other leagues have not done that, most
notably the NFL. Now the NFL has changed its tune.
What do you make of that? UM? I do know
one thing I can speak from is what I'm a
(13:22):
part of. And I'm a part of the league with
a great commissioner and Adam Silver and he's always listened
to the voice of his players. UM, and I've always
respected him with that for that. UM, he's given us
an opportunity to when we feel something that's very wrong
with society, that's very wrong with what's going on in
our communities, that we could speak upon that and use
the NBA shield to back us. And UM, I have
(13:44):
nothing but respect for Adam Silver. Um. As far as
the NFL, I'm not in those locker rooms. I'm not
with those guys, but I do understand UM that an apology.
I have not heard true official apology to Colin Kaepernick
on what he was going through and what he was
trying to tell the NFL and tell the world about
while he was kneeling when he was doing that as
(14:06):
a San Francisco forty niner. UM. So I just see
that to be still be wrong. UM. And now they
are listening some, but I still think, UM, we have
not heard that official apology to a man who basically
sacrificed everything for the better at his world. So UM,
I can say that about about that. And Maverick, I
wonder about the Kaepernick issue from from your perspective knowing
(14:30):
the business world, the endorsement world, the economic element of this,
How does that change going forward? Given that, I think
it's fair to say Colin Kaepernick was vindicated in a
lot of senses. Yeah, well, I think you know. The
fact of the matter is, Um, Colin Kaepernick did what
was on his heart. He did what he felt was right.
(14:53):
He took all the right steps. People always obviously look
over that he met with the military. Uh. I think
it was a marine or maybe even a navcal that
told him sitting was the wrong thing to do. That
he should knew. That's where he actually got the idea.
He took the right steps. But I think as black people,
you know, we've been ringing this alarm for a long time,
(15:14):
and and and and the rest of the country. Who
are you know, I happen to believe most people are good,
So who are not even racist have just been hitting
snooze on it because it's just the system has been
set up in a way that even if you're not racist, right,
that you still perpetuate a system that oppresses black people.
(15:38):
And and and I keep telling people biased and racist
get the same results. So if I worked at Bloomberg
and I you just gravitated as a human to the
people who went to the same school as you, drink
the same beer as you, go to the same place
to hang out as you. So therefore you don't have
to be racist to still be in a system that
(16:00):
oppresses black people. And I think, you know, we've been
saying this a long time, that this is this is
what this is. It's in the fabric of America, it's
in the DNA was actually designed that way. And unless
we actually stop and really make hard turns and changes
to reverse the social, political, and economic systems, then it's
(16:22):
still gonna go on. And many people go, well, I'm
not racist. I go, you're not, but you still have
benefited from a system and perpetuated system that oppresses black people.
So I think Colin definitely champion that in a big way.
But this has been going on for hundreds of years,
and black people have been saying this for hundreds of years. Lebron,
I do want to ask you about something that we
(16:43):
have talked about before that it has continued to be
an issue, and that is China. Obviously, a little less
than a year ago, you made some comments that people
disagreed with. You've gotten some criticism lately from activist Joshua
Wong about your comments are lack thereof related to China?
(17:03):
What have you learned from that whole incident? I think
you know for me personally, like I told you before, Jason, Um,
you know when you speak about things that I'm knowledgeable
about that I'm educated on um. And at the end
of the day, right right is right, and wrong it's wrong,
and UM, I want the better I want the betterment
of people, no matter skin color, no matter race, no
(17:26):
matter anything. So you know I'm in a position of that,
you know. So UM. You know that's what you always
learn from from anything that you do in life. You
is always uh, you know, learning mechanisms is always you know,
people are gonna agree with you, some people are gonna
disagree with you, um, but you can't allow that to
stop your journey and um, and that's what it's all
(17:46):
about for me. So when you think about what happens
next from an NBA perspective, Lebron, Uh, assuming that everything
stays the same, you gotta be playing basketball pretty soon,
which feels like good news for for a lot of folks,
and I would imagine especially you. Given the position the
Lakers were in going into all this, Kyrie Irving has said,
(18:10):
and I believe you have disagreed that maybe you should
think about not playing. What do you think? Well for
me personally, UM, you know, I love the game of basketball,
UM and UM, and I want to continue to play. UM.
I believe that sports UM in general, UM has done
so many great things for for communities, UM, for households,
(18:34):
bringing people together. UM. And more importantly, UM, like you
said earlier, with our our commissioner and our league, has
always allowed us to express the values and things that's
going on in our lives. So UM, you know, for
us to be at it together as a league once
again along was going on right now, it gives us
another opportunity to continue to talk about, UM, what's going on,
(18:55):
to social injustice, the police brutality, UM, you know, black
lives matter, and continue to hit home on things that's
going on that matters a lot as well. UM. But
but sports has always been something that kind of gavlanized
and brought people together and and and you know, just
make people feel you know, very uplifted. And I know
in my community right now, we just unfortunately a beautiful
(19:18):
eighteen year old girl by the name of the Kia
Crawford was just gunned down, UM and and Akron, Ohio
last week, a week after graduating high school. UM. You know,
so you know, just to get people's minds UM. Not
saying forget about certain situations, but to just have a
breath of fresh air, to have a breath of a
(19:39):
sense of love. UM. What what sports can bring. And
I know what I do on the basketball court can
bring a lot of happiness to a lot of households,
including my own, and including my community and my kids.
So I'm looking forward to the season getting restarted, getting
back in the Laker uniform. UM, and continue to to
to push the envelope not only on the court but
(20:00):
off the court, because like I've been telling a lot
of my colleagues, a lot of my friends, I won't
stop until I see change, and I mean real change
for us as a community, as a Black community, both
on and off the floor. So my mission stays the same.
I do wonder for both of you and and taking
your point, which is a good one, Maverick, that this
(20:21):
is more than a moment, and I think we all
hope that it will be more than a moment, and
maybe it's an inflection point we hope that to be
the case. There is a gravity, there's a weight to this,
and I wonder, and maybe Maverick, I'll start with you,
do you feel that way? Do you feel like there's
pressure to to do something to ensure that this isn't
(20:44):
just a moment. I feel that people are finally paying
attention and focusing on it, right, And and people who
again who are definitely not racist, are now even focused
on it, right because the four people go, well, I'm
not racist, I'm it's fine, everything's fine. And I think,
you know, part of it was, you know, in some
(21:07):
ways it's funny because when you know, you see a
black man like Lebron or a black man like Obama
who who achieved the ultimate levels of success in this
in America allows people to say, well, look, America is fine.
We have a black president. We have a black man
who started off in the projects of accurate and reached
(21:28):
the heights of the world and and and just about
concret the world. But that's not true, right, That's and
I think that's what we have. We finally have people
paying attention that, no, this isn't just about people flying
Confederate flags and disliking or being hateful towards anyone who
is not of their race. This is actually about a system.
(21:49):
It's actually systematic. It's not about just it's not simple.
The Confederate flag is just a symbol that stood for
something right. But but go past the people are like,
well if I don't, I don't have a Confederate flag
at my house, I'm not I get along with everybody.
That's true, but you still participate in this system that
(22:10):
needs change, and I think we finally have people paying
attention to that. Lebron. The final question to you is
is similar to that I watched an episode of The
Shop where you talked about the pressure you felt the
weight of a city when you were growing up as
a teenager. You're on the cover of Sports Illustrated as
a junior in high school. That felt like pressure. I know,
(22:31):
especially for a kid. What does the pressure feel like now? Um,
it's it's the same. It's the same, but it's my
responsibility and I'm okay having um that pressure of my
community and other black communities across America. UM that that
look up to me and look to me for inspiration
(22:52):
or for guidance or for which way are we're going Uh,
you know, I think it's just my responsibility. And I
completely under saying that, and I represent that with the
utmost respect. And uh you know, so every day, like
I said, I leave my home or um you know,
I wake up out of my bed. I understand that
it's not just about me. You know, I'm representing so
(23:13):
many people. UM. You know obviously my family, my wife,
my three kids, UM and everyone that's um you know,
part of my family and friends and my type group,
but also um, you know, the communities that do not
have a voice, the individuals that do not have a
voice that's going through a lot of their shortcomings and
a lot of the adverse moments that I went through
as a kid as well. So for me to be
(23:34):
able to um lighten and and righten you know a
lot of people to what's going on in these communities,
UM and let their voices be heard is something that
I walk with every day and the responsibility that I
walk with. UM. So you know, you can look at
it this pressure, um you know, but you know pressure
bus bus pipes and a lot of people's mindset. But
(23:57):
in mind you know, pressure creates diamonds and that's what
that's what it's all about here, Lebron James, Maverick Carter,
thank you so much. Really enjoyed catching up with you.
Thank And that's Lebron James, Star of course of the
Los Angeles Lakers, and maybe more importantly for this conversation,
chairman of the spring Hill Company, his business partner, the
(24:18):
CEO of that company, Maverick Carter. They've known each other
since they were kids. Carol. This is a special relationship
and where they are in the culture, where they are
right now is incredibly, incredibly important. And what I think
is really fascinating, Jason, considering the backdrop of the last
month that we've been talking about diversity and racism in America,
(24:38):
I feel like this is a company for where we
need to be today. They kind of set the model well,
and what you just heard, it's just scratching the surface.
For the full interview, download the podcast. Just go to
our podcast feed you can get the whole thing. And
let me tell you, it was wide ranging. We talked
a lot about the issues of the day. We talked
a little bit about basketball, but also to your point, Carol,
(24:59):
where we go from here, And I have to say
it's a bit of a bracing conversation at times, because
Maverick Carter especially talks about racism, talks about what he
has experienced, but also what it means to ultimately enable
this system that we've all been being a part of,
and hopefully what we can do about it. I'm just
gonna say it's a must read, it's a must listen,
(25:21):
and it's a must watch because you can check out
your TV special and your conversation with both of them
on Blueboard TV. This is bo
Hosts And Creators
Tim Stenovec
Carol Massar
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