The city of Cleveland rightfully lost its mind when basketball superstar and MVP LeBron James helped lead the Cavaliers to the NBA championship over the Golden State Warriors. You know who else is probably pretty excited about the victory? CNBC executives.
That's because the financial news network is the lucky owner of Cleveland Hustles, a new reality show that debuts in August and is produced by SpringHill Entertainment, the production company that James owns with his childhood friend Maverick Carter.
CNBC says James and Carter "will give four up-and-coming local entrepreneurs the chance to realize their own dreams while also helping to revitalize a neighborhood in Cleveland." The entrepreneurs will receive money, a storefront and guidance from a group of business experts.
The timing is perfect: James can ride the championship wave of acclaim all summer, which can only boost viewership for the series. It's also excellent news for CNBC promotion, especially considering that the show involves a city ready to worship its MVP.
In the last several years, James has made a careful yet ambitious push into Hollywood, pitching ideas to networks in a behind-the-scenes capacity while also becoming a star -- especially in his hilarious role in the Judd Apatow comedy Trainwreck last summer opposite Amy Schumer and Bill Hader.
James is also an executive producer of Starz show Survivor's Remorse, a comedy about a basketball star that's loosely based on his life. Fortuitously, the third season premieres in July, which is pretty excellent timing for a network that already boasts the show as one of its hit series.
Last year, his SpringHill production company teamed with Warner Bros. to start selling even more projects and producing more content. Recently, James sold the docu-series Becoming, a kid-targeted show that profiles various athletes, to Disney XD. SpringHill is also behind The Wall, a new trivia game show on NBC hosted by Chris Hardwick.
"Get ready for the game show from LeBron James where regular people achieve their dreams!" NBC exclaims excitedly on its website, clearly hoping that name-dropping will get viewers more excited.
According to Internet Movie Database, James is attached to several other untitled series -- plus there's his reported forthcoming appearance in Space Jam 2. After that recent epic game, James' foray into Hollywood should only pick up speed.
Style on 06/28/2016