HoopsHype.com Rumors

Now, it will be Adam Silver's turn with James. Make no mistake: James and his inner circle have a strong relationship with Silver, who'll replace Stern as the NBA's commissioner in 2014. Silver is so fond of James' business manager Maverick Carter, he granted an interview with Forbes to render some fluffy quotes for a profile on Carter. Yahoo! Sports

Miami Heat, LeBron James, Maverick Carter, Adam Silver 

Jon Santiago: If you're wondering why LeBron James endorses Samsung, you can credit Maverick Carter for that. Bron says he got him that deal. Twitter @itsjonsantiago

Miami Heat, LeBron James, Maverick Carter 

For Maverick Carter, Randy Mims and Rich Paul, James' longtime friends and business managers, that show of love and appreciation after their bumpy road together will never be forgotten. Yahoo! Sports

LeBron James, Maverick Carter, Agents, Randy Mims, Rich Paul 

LeBron James took over The Darby the other night to toast his business manager and childhood friend, Maverick Carter. The Miami Heat star brought in a marching-style band and hamburgers from their hometown of Akron, Ohio, for the 50-person-seated birthday dinner at the supper club attended by Warner Music CEO Lyor Cohen, Jay-Z and Gayle King. “LeBron was very particular about the details,” a source said. “He sees Maverick as a brother.” New York Post

Miami Heat, LeBron James, Maverick Carter 

Everyone involved was using everyone else for their own ends to produce what amounted to a massive orgy that they all came to regret the next day. And LeBron was just the inflatable fuck toy in the middle of it all. So to speak. Gray explains in the book that the idea was born at Game 2 of the L.A.-Boston finals, when he spoke to Maverick Carter, CEO of James's marketing company, and talent agent Ari Emanuel. Gray asked Carter if he could have the first interview with James after he had made The Decision, which at that point was still just a decision. Deadspin.com

Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, LeBron James, Media, Jim Gray, Maverick Carter 

JIM GRAY: ...by the end of the conversation, I said, 'Better yet, Maverick, why don't we do this: Why don't we go buy an hour of network time, you produce the show, you own the show, I get to do the interview, and you have LeBron make the announcement of where he's going to go.' Before I got the last three words out of my mouth, Ari said, 'That's a brilliant idea. That's unbelievable. Maverick, you ought to do that!' Then Maverick looked at Ari and said, ‘Okay. You want to handle it?' Ari said, ‘Yeah, that's great, let's do this.' Maverick then said, 'You know what, we can raise a bunch of money for charity, so that no one will think LeBron is going to profit from this.' Then Maverick told me to stay in touch with him, And Ari, and that was that. Deadspin.com

Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, LeBron James, Media, Jim Gray, Maverick Carter 

After ESPN donated an hour to the "cause," Gray felt more and more distanced from the planning. He says he informed ESPN producer Bob Rauscher that he would ask "ten or twelve questions before we get to the big one" and that he "gave him an idea of almost all the questions." According to Gray, Rauscher gave him the green light, and Gray insists all the questions were "very legitimate." (He regrets the "throwaway line" about nail biting.) Deadspin.com

Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, LeBron James, Media, Jim Gray, Maverick Carter 

LRMR is partnering with Fenway Sports Management, the marketing arm of Fenway Sports Group, the owners of the Red Sox, the English Premier League soccer club Liverpool FC and New England Sports Network. The deal is potentially groundbreaking. James and Carter, black boys from Akron’s hood, are aligned with Henry and Werner, old, white money. This isn’t a shoe company raining millions on a great athlete. Or a sports agency arranging movie cameos and commercial endorsements for a superstar. It’s “Trading Places.” It’s Randolph and Mortimer Duke welcoming Billy Ray Valentine into their private country club. More important, it’s a sports icon multitasking as full-fledged businessman in the prime of his career. LeBron James yearns to be Magic Johnson/Earvin Johnson, basketball legend/business tycoon. Now. FOXSports.com

Miami Heat, LeBron James, Maverick Carter 

“I’m in Los Angeles,” Carter says. “I’m with Jimmy Iovine. We’re in his office. It’s a couple of years ago, around 2008.” Iovine is the chairman of Interscope Records. He produced albums for U2 and Tom Petty. Iovine discovered Eminem. Iovine sold the masters to Death Row Records for $500 million. Iovine is music royalty. Carter, at this time, is the undistinguished childhood friend LeBron James put in charge of his global-icon aspirations. “I got this whole thing about gift-giving and how to use it as a marketing tool,” Carter continues. “Jimmy is telling me about Beats, the headphones by Dr. Dre . . . So Jimmy has me put on a pair of Beats. I love them! The sound is great. They look hip. “I say, ‘Jimmy, let me get 15 pair.’ He’s like, ‘Mav, these aren’t on the market yet. I don’t even know if I have 15 in my office. I say, ‘Jimmy, let me get 15 pair and watch what I do with them.’ ” FOXSports.com

Miami Heat, LeBron James, Maverick Carter 

Iovine obliges. Carter gives the headphones to James, instructs the two-time NBA MVP to gift them to his 2008 Olympic teammates as they board their flight to China. As he presents the headphones, James shares a short speech that touches on the significance of their journey and how the Beats symbolize the sincerity of their commitment to put team goals ahead of individual ones. When the Redeem Team deplaned in Beijing, the international press awaited LeBron, Kobe, D-Wade, ’Melo and D12. A paparazzi-like contingent of still and television cameras captured their arrival. Fifteen new pairs of Beats draped the heads and necks of the world’s most recognizable athletes as they conducted their initial, impromptu Olympic interviews. Carter engineered the ultimate product placement, a genius, massive, free advertising campaign. “Maverick gets it, and he gets it done,” Jimmy Iovine blurts out while retelling the story Carter shared in the Mercedes. “Maverick says it, and it happens. And that’s rare in any business.” FOXSports.com

Miami Heat, LeBron James, Maverick Carter 

“The transition that Maverick made from ordinary guy in Akron to marketing professional representing LeBron is extremely difficult,” says Merritt, an early mentor for Carter who still talks with him three times a week. “There are not a lot of people who can do what Maverick has done. Once we got him on track, you could see that he was special. I thought he would be successful but I’m not sure if I saw what he’s doing now. “Some of the business deals he’s doing for LeBron now are pretty unique.” Turning a 6-foot-8, 250-pound sculpted forward into Fat Albert certainly qualifies as unique. “The LeBrons,” which launched online Wednesday, is Maverick’s brainchild, the tool LeBron can use to teach kids moral values through cartoon characters, much the way Bill Cosby’s “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids” did a generation ago. FOXSports.com

Miami Heat, LeBron James, Maverick Carter 

“Despite the bumps in the road, what Maverick and LeBron are doing, should be looked at as showing where athletes are going in terms of how their business is handled,” says Steve Stoute, CEO of Translation, a New York-based marketing company that works with Fortune 500 companies such as McDonald’s, State Farm and Target. “Maverick is putting footprints in the ground for everyone to follow.” FOXSports.com

Miami Heat, LeBron James, Maverick Carter 

When the Players Association wanted LeBron involved a couple of years ago, James’ camp insisted it must let his business manager, Maverick Carter, sit in on one of the big agent meetings. Carter isn’t an agent, but just plays one on his personal cable sports television network. Yahoo! Sports

Miami Heat, LeBron James, Maverick Carter 

The leaking is troubling. There's little doubt in our minds that Maverick Carter planted that story. Maybe LeBron didn't direct him to, but that sounded like Maverick. Palm Beach Post

Miami Heat, LeBron James, Erik Spoelstra, Maverick Carter 

Were you surprised at the level of anger from fans and comments from people within the League following his decision? David Falk: I wasn’t surprised at all. I was disappointed that it wasn’t handled better. I really like Maverick Carter. Maverick is not his NBA agent. In any situation when you’re going to exit, I think you have to stand up and tell the person in advance, ‘Hey, I’ve made a decision. You haven’t created an environment that is conducive to my success, so I’m going to leave.’ He has every right to leave. I just think there’s a certain level of respect, consideration and professionalism. And LeBron is a very professional guy and I don’t think he received very good advice in how to handle that situation. I think the show was a disaster. SLAM

Miami Heat, LeBron James, David Falk, Maverick Carter, Agents 

LeBron James' manager is accused of physically and psychologically damaging a 19-year-old woman ... after she claims the guy held her against her will and stole a very expensive piece of LeBron-inspired jewelry. TMZ has obtained a lawsuit filed by VaNeisha Robinson -- in which she claims Maverick Carter and his mom staged a 9-man ambush to jack a $10,000 pendant she claims she bought at a garage sale for $5 back in 2005 thinking it was costume jewelry. Turns out, it was real. TMZ.com

Law, Maverick Carter 

Carter ought to stop crowding James on a stage where’s there’s no room for him, no good use. After all, this wasn’t about a belated damage control for LeBron, but for Maverick. Carter crafted a hit-and-run that would work to restore his crumbled standing in the marketing world. Carter wanted to change the dialogue on “The Decision” for his own good, not James’. Yet, LeBron takes the hit again and again for his loyalty to this wrecking crew that surrounds him. They thrust James into a no-win situation, and it set him back again. And Carter? He slips back into the shadows until his next round of one-on-ones and photo spreads with Forbes and Fortune. Yahoo! Sports

Miami Heat, LeBron James, Maverick Carter 

Purposely lost in it all, Carter slipped in some kind of half-assed admission about the television show that “the execution could’ve been a little better.” Yes, so could’ve the Bay of Pigs and the Faber College homecoming parade. This way, Carter’s on record with a vague notion of contrition, but the race angle steals the headlines and he never truly has to answer for his incompetence. Yahoo! Sports

Miami Heat, LeBron James, Maverick Carter 

Today, the 25-year-old multimillion-dollar athlete draws on his memories of living in the West Akron complex (characterized as ''a problem area'' by officers who answered frequent calls there at the time) to inspire his charitable contributions to local youths. ''He knows the place that he comes from and he's not that far removed from the age of the kids he's giving to — he was 17 years old when he was living in Springhill,'' said Maverick Carter, James' business partner and friend of about 20 years. ''He understands what these kids are going through. What he is really trying to give them is a sense of empowerment and instill in them that there is something bigger and better out there for them, if they work toward it — just like he did with basketball.'' Akron Beacon Journal

Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James, Maverick Carter 

According to financial records filed with the federal government, the foundation has paid out more than $500,000 in expenses related to the bikeathon since it began five years ago. It has also donated nearly $900,000 to causes and organizations, including the Akron Urban League and YMCA, both of which benefit from the bike-athon. Akron Beacon Journal

Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James, Maverick Carter