Watching JAY-Z return to Yankee Stadium brought back memories for LeBron James that stretched far beyond the music. More than two decades after they first met, James says the Hip Hop mogul still shapes the way he approaches business.
Speaking at CNBC Sport and Boardroom's Game Plan Summit, James reflected on meeting Jay-Z in Chicago at 16, and later spending time with him in New York. While many would have treated the opportunity as a chance to ask questions, James said he and his friends took a different approach. They watched.
"We didn’t say much. We didn’t ask for much. We just sat there," said James. "And he moved how a person that know who he is and what he brings to the table is supposed to move, and from the business side, to the way he walked, to the way he talked, to the way he greeted people. It was just an aura about him and a professionalism in his respective genre that we all kind of learned, and we all kind of took to this point now."
Read More: LeBron James Laces Up "Reasonable Doubt" AF1 At Jay-Z's Night 2
The Hove & LeBron Lore Runs Deep
He continued, "Literally, my first summer was—with them was 'The Blueprint' album 25 summers ago. So, man, he’s been one of my biggest inspirations. I say M.J. was my biggest inspiration as far as basketball, but I never got an opportunity to hang with him or talk to him or whatever. But Jay is like my big brother. He’s the one who’s given me so much game and has taught me so much. And I’m always thinking about him any time I’m doing something business-wise or making a decision or whatever, thinking like, is this going to make him proud or—because he gave me so much game as a 16-year-old kid."
James said those early experiences left a lasting impression that still guides him today. In fact, he admitted he often finds himself thinking about Jay-Z whenever he's weighing an important business decision, asking whether the choice he's making would make his longtime mentor proud.
"You see everything that he’s doing from—obviously, the music speaks for itself, but all the business ventures and everything that he’s doing, being able to understand what you bring to the table and not taking less. And I’m not talking a monetary thing. I’m just saying, when I walk into the room, he understood his position of power and how to use that as leverage for the betterment of himself and the people around him."
