Hey, consider this listeners. It's Sunday, which means we have a bonus episode for you.

It's a story about two kids from Akron, Ohio. You might know one of them. His name is LeBron James.

Well, the other, his longtime friend and business partner, Maverick Carter.

Carter isn't in the spotlight on the court, but he's at the center of everything that LeBron James does off the court.

And this is the story of how the two of them built one of the biggest athlete-driven business empires in the world.

It comes to us from our colleagues at NPR's newest podcast, The Limits, hosted by former NBA star and ESPN host Jay Williams.

You can find links to more from the show in our episode notes. Jay Williams takes it from here.

And we will be back with a regular episode of the show tomorrow.

Welcome to The Limits. I'm Jay Williams.

You know, there is this moment that I absolutely love from the year 2013.

This was the year LeBron James won his second straight NBA championship with the Miami Heat.

You see, he had just become the third player in the history of the NBA to win back-to-back titles.

It was a decade after his NBA debut, and he was already cementing his legacy as one of the greatest, if not the greatest of all time.

And here's what he said in the court side interview holding that championship trophy.

I'm LeBron James from Akron, Ohio, from the inner city. I'm not even supposed to be here.

But see, here for Bron was not just on the court.

It was in C-suite sitting down with investors, private equity, venture capitalists, and moguls and sports, finance and media.

See, all these years, while everyone was so focused on what Bron was building on the court, he was also building a business empire.

That today is valued at three quarters of a billion dollars.

The keystone of that empire is called the Spring Hill Company.

They do marketing, branding, content.

They own a part of the Boston Red Sox.

...