Billed Different

LePerk

Get to LeChopper

LePabloInvestigationIncoming

LeCircumvention

LeCheapSkate

LeCheapskate

LeCarbonFootprint

MJ would never (he’d spend $350K in 1994 dollars to buy a bus for a minor league baseball team instead)

LeDoesntPay

Lefreeloader

LeTightAss

LeRelocation Assistance

Mr Big Commute

LeKobe…too soon?

That’s what I hated about the hotel industry. We would have wealthy guests that would pay standard rate for VIP suites. Management said it was because they would order room service and it would be worth it. Guess what? It was never worth it. They ended up almost never ordering anything extra.

But isnt Lebron so quirky because he uses Spotify free and eats tacos on Tuesday.

For real lol. Even my boss at my government job gets free parking while his underlings pay $15/day on ¹⁄₃ the salary.

I know thats a far cry from LeBron and his helicopter but I see this trend everywhere.

I forget who said it, but it was a fairly famous and successful celebrity said the cruelest joke for society is that once you have money you no longer need to pay for anything because people will fall all over themselves to give it to you as a way of promoting their stuff. But when you don’t have money, nothing comes for free.

Sir Ben Kingsley’s cameo in The Sopranos gives you a good idea of how much shit they get for free

And yes, it really is like that.

Rich people get the most free shit. It’s expensive being poor

This isn’t about LeBron being rich, its that the partnership brings Fanatics more value than the cost of these perks.

You also have to be exceptional at what you do (in this instance anyway). And here I am eating cereal in my parents basement lol

it’s natural and you see it every day, you’re just getting 1 shot by the scale

the more famous*

I’m nowhere near rich yet I have experienced this phenomenon my entire work career.

It’s beyond shitty, but after seeing how books work at a massive level…I understand it at a marketing level. A human, working class level? “Fuck you, pay me.” A corp with dollars?? “Slide into my DMs with you proposal”

I fucking hate working.

I generally feel that way too, but here it feels a tad misleading.

If he signed a contract with them and part of his compensation included travel, this is just his utilizing a preexisting agreement. This isn’t “free”.

It’s literally just perks of employment except on the scale of LeBron James

This is basically company paid car and fuel, which is very common, on Lebrons scale lol

I truly like LeBron. I appreciate greatness. Not a LeBron Stan but I like how the guy plays basketball. With that being said. It’s cool to use fanatics and take advantage of them. Their shirts are truly like something you’d get 3 for $10 at a flea market. But the gambling sponsorship is such a bad look. And he doesn’t have to do it at all. The money doesn’t even sound like LeBron level pay. I don’t want the man to tarnish his legacy but he’s on the road to doing just that. It’s not nothing. He’s made a weird decision and it’s a big deal.

It’s true from personal anecdotes

It’s like the goodie bags celebrities get at awards shows. As if they couldn’t afford it themselves.

It’s not richer, it’s famous-er. There are a few discounts for just being rich, but far more if you’re also famous.

it’s not about the money at that point lol it’s about upping the other by all means

Good old Vimes Boots Theory of economics.

A rich man can buy a fine pair of boots for \(100 that last him for years, while a poor man spends twice as much in the same span having to buy new \)10 boots every season.

Yep, it’s expensive to be poor.

“Ironic that being broke is an expensive lifestyle.” - JID

I think this one’s more about him still being a top tier player taking the vet min so the job had to come with some perks.

I feel like a helicopter and its pilot and maintenance would be something I’d want to keep tabs on myself than just relying on contractors for a really shitty company if I were a billionaire who’s aware that one of my colleagues died in a copter crash a few years ago.

Compensation (edit: and risk control to some degree)

Ben Stiller was sharing how they don’t pay for courtside seats to the Knicks since Dolan gives them away for free for the publicity. At least he acknowledges the privilege but still sucks for the non 1%

leFreeBees

which devalues the energy/fuel/carbon cost of everything. When a helo flight costs you nothing you don’t think twice, but the pollution is the same.

Usually the richer/more famous you are, the more easily you make other people money

Being poor is really expensive, while being rich is cheap as fuck.

I’m sure he has A LOT of money that goes out too. Like multiples of our salaries. It’s so crazy tho

I’m not Lebron (I could be KD though) but about 3 years ago I took a job making 400k a year. They paid people to come into my house and box up all my stuff. They moved it in a truck with my car attached. They paid for my flight. Temporary housing for 2 months. I got an additional 10 grand just for expenses. I get free meals at work. My work has a gym. Free electric car charging. When I travel for work they just give me like $600 a day for food, hotel, rental car. I can book wherever I want.

Everywhere I’ve been that I’ve made less none of this was included and wouldve helped a lot more. Now i can afford it easily but they cover it.

Poor people love to give rich people their money. Especially if they’re a celebrity. It’s equal parts hilarious and pathetic

Or the value you bring is more than what they are paying for.

Always reminds me of Colm Meany’s line in Get Him to the Greek, “It’s funny innit, you get rich…then everything comes for free!”

True, but at least Lebron has an actual irreplaceable value, compared to some talentless generic CEO that keeps failing up

Nah all the top kids in the most popular sports going down to High School get free gifts and all sorts of stuff. Point is it’s not just rich people.

Well when you have value to companies, they are willing to let you pay less. Not how much rich you are

It’s less about how rich you already are (like if you were a nameless billionaire, you wouldn’t get much for free unless they wanted something else for you)

I was just saying the other day, and its 100% true. The people who most often receive complimentary services, bonuses, free throw-ins, etc. just because, are the people who are least likely to feel the impact of getting it. It’s strategy to secure more of their client’s (in most cases) future spendings. It’s an investment. One that they would never make in a working class client.

No fancy restaurants are ever going to send a fancy bottle of champagne to a table of a random person- but they absolutely would if the person is well known and is likely to spend significantly more.

A lot of times it isn’t even financial incentive. It’s just the wealthy looking out for the wealthy.

The only thing I would say is that LeBron absolutely negotiated some perks/deals so that signing for as little as he did wouldn’t be as significant of a concession.

Fuck LeBillionaires

Biggest moochers in society

Your broke ahh needs to take the chopper?

He pays for it in advertising

Its probably safe to assume the company is making enough off of his deal either way

I mean look at anything LeBron related. It literally generates so many click and stories

It’s part of his contract, how much money you think he’s making Fanatics? You wouldn’t want free helicopter rides as part of your work perks if you knew you were making them boatloads of cash?

If you are a celeb, that is.

For them, your name brings them profit indirectly (from your fame using their product, and so on) and directly (ads)

It’s an advertisement for Fanatics and their trading cards, and they, in turn, return him favors.

He pays in other ways like appearances, promotion, etc.

Rich people also travel cheaper because they can choose to go vacation any time of the year.

If you’re rich and famous enough, you can even get away with murdering your wife (and her friend) and walk free

The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. … A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. … But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and

would still have wet feet.

This was the Captain Samuel Vimes ‘Boots’ theory of socio-economic unfairness.

–Men at Arms by Sir Terry Pratchett

At the same time, he’s also paying for security, his company’s employees, his agent, his medical treatment costs, his big-ass house, and a whole bunch of other things.

Yes he gets a lot of things free or cheap but he has expenses the average Joe doesn’t

It pisses me off so much tbh. I work for a service provider for luxury condos, homes, and co-ops. Every time I see the list of free stuff people get just for choosing to live in a certain place (this applies to multiple places in multiple states, not just one), I think about the fact that there are poor people who could use such “amenities” and “bonuses,” and who’d appreciate them so much more.

Just like how moviepass thought I was paying $10 a month for 3 movies a year

Definitely not. It’s LeBron, they want his name on their lower back if it means staying in the same sentence

They have the most famous active NBA player spamming their shit on his IG. The half a mil it costs to chaperone him is nothing.

LeChurner

Especially with the fuel situation. I wonder when the eco warriors make a fuss about this, because it really is just a giant carbon sink for no real gain.

Just like my gym membership

Sign up for a year to use it 4 times a year.

Good times reminds me to cancel my gym membership next year

Rubin’s favorite team is the Sixers he definitely was in on the “Whatever you want just sign” part of this

I doubt it, the Fanatics ceo is connected to the sixers iirc

Or it’s just more under the table compensation for taking such a small NBA deal..

3 flights is a bit hyperbolic, but daily commute, yea I see that not being what they imagined. Either way, I think they can stomach it and are happy to pay the bill, considering this is possibly his retirement tour.

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I’m glad I can finally sleep peacefully at night knowing LeBron James doesn’t pay for his helicopter rides

I hope fanatics has higher quality helicopters than their clothing

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I’m 32 saving up for hopefully an eventual house for myself in a shit-tier market, but at least I can sleep soundly knowing a billionaire can hop in a choppa on someone else’s dime to and from the city he chose to work in 🚁

All professional athletes do and always have before they got paid to play. They were in highshcool living a different reality to you. Not just Lebron

The fact that fanatics needs private helicopters lol. You fucking push low quality merch with sports team logos

I mean you do realize that LeBron just choosing what team he plays for generates HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of dollars to things not just associated with basketball?

This seems like such a mild post to have that feeling about. Players are making over 50 mil per year and posts about salaries are fairly common. If he takes a round trip every one of the 240 days per year the nba plays and we use the upper estimate of 10k per trip its still only 4.8 million dollars. Even if you include his salary its under 10 mil total.

He told you himself at an interview years ago

This is the new gilded age

If Kawhi had commuted in a Aspiration branded helicopter the Clippers would still have their draft picks.

LeSpire

When Kawhi entered FA after 2019 he had a bunch of offers like this from business owners in Toronto, like unlimited comp’d meals transportation etc. Not exactly what Ballmer did but basically local boosters trying to incentivize him to re-sign

Uncle Dennis was just five years ahead of his time

Oh come on, you know that the expense has been reported and counts against the cap. /s

While not planting trees. I hear they don’t grow in canada or something

This is the shit that i don’t understand. Everyone crying to throw the book at the Clippers for “Circumventing the cap” by giving a little extra money to a guy already on a max deal. Meanwhile, the greatest player of all time signs for a VET MINIMUM, and nobody gives a shit.

Yeah, and so is Kobe

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Honestly you are right. 80 percent of the billionaires would probably be behind bars if we dug deep enough.

We don’t hate the systems that enable a vastly growing wealth gap enough.

But also rich people who lobby and bribe to protect their interests

I work at a resort that hosts royal families (as well as NBA teams and LeBron James, he’s not liked by staff) and believe me, it gets way worse than this. They take private jets almost every day to go to meetings or whatever, probably paying off our politicians, around the country. The most recent one that checked in had an entire bus just to for their luggage.

I really recommend getting tapped into your local progressive orgs. I’ve been canvassing and phone banking with my local Working Families Party and writing postcards to voters with Reclaim Our Vote. Literally the only way out of this is using the little power we have that they can’t take away—people power.

Palabra!

Yes but without the “h”

This post brought to you by us, a bunch of people who spend a large part of our free time attending, watching, talking about, and funding the ultimately meaningless hobby/money multiplier of a handful of billionaires.

Yeah, Lebron doesn’t pay for the chopper but we all pay the price of the carbon footprint of the ultra-wealthy private jet and helicopter class.

Why should we hate rich people?

If you’ve ever watched a LeBron basketball game, you’re why he’s rich lol. Why are you hating on a guy who came from nothing and earned millions through sheer effort and dedication? You’re miserable

What does him being rich have to do with him receiving a perk per the terms of his partnership contract with Fanatics?

That’s all you guys do on here lmao

Its funny, I was just rolling over an old employer IRA that only had a few hundred in it, but they charged ~\(100 in account closing fees. Then I find out if the balance was over \)25k then the institution i was rolling it over to would waive the fees. So a 0.004% fee (or less) if youre “rich” (lol),, but ~30% fee if you’re “poor”.

As i was bitching about it to my wife i literally said “this is like how nba players get free shoes. THEY DONT NEED FREE SHIT!”

Eh, it’s more like the more rare and desired your skill/talent and the more it can make people money, the more stuff you get for free.

There are plenty of multimillionaire crypto bros out there who have zero talent outside of getting lucky on some doggy coin. They still have to pay full price because nobody gives a damn about them. LeBron gets free stuff because people want to keep him happy because he’s the guy keeping their wallets fat.

Not free, it’s clear he’s advertising for Fanatics every time he takes it. So he’s paying by being an ad. That’s probably why this has been such a big story, so everyone can take photos and share them of the Fanatics helicopter

Deal is with Fanatics, which was done in 2024.

The helicopter clearly has the company’s advertising on it. It’s pretty legit if that’s the case. He’s advertising for fanatics with every flight

Why would that be circumventing the cap? Teams are allowed to fly players? How else do players get to games and practices

“What an awful human being” - NBA justice warriors

Sounds like haters hating to me

Fanatics CEO is a former Sixers minority owner 👀 lol

Hey Adam, make ‘em trust the process until 2068!

The NBA moved from the Tim Donaghy Era to the Gambling & Crypto Era and I hate everything about it

It basically is. Blatant. If this flies then why would the Kawhi deals be a problem? Because it’s more money? Lol

Same thing

This is likely being done as a form of payment that Fanatics would have paid in cash otherwise.

So….don’t buy the jersey? Athletes like LeBron only earn that money because of suckers out there who sincerely believe that playing a child’s game better than anyone else is the most important skill in the world.

If you were as marketable as LeBron James you wouldn’t pay for anything either! Maybe try being better at basketball?

Sooooo consider this part of his salary… He is “only” getting about $4M a year. This helo cost is peanuts for the 76ers based on what he could have demanded.

I wonder if he gets to eat his own cookies on the helo…? 🤣

I doubt Fanatics thinks they can charge $5 more so it’s worth flying LeBron. I think they were thinking they’d move more jerseys.

You may it seem like this is a carton of eggs or a gallon of milk. Yeah, you’re gonna pay more for the jersey. You don’t need it so don’t buy it. That’s how consumers can respond to this, not by complaining about it.

Naive to think those jerseys wouldn’t be upcharged anyways to meet their annual revenue goals so that the owners can get richer. Marketing is marketing, they allocate a portion of budget to that no matter what.

Thats not how capitalism works bro. Your jersey is $5 extra because that’s what the marketing team thinks will make them the most profit in terms of what the market will pay x number of jerseys sold. LeBron’s use of choppers doesn’t play into that, they would still maximise profits regardless of his transport cost

So stop participating. Stop spending your money on dumb things

he’s bringing you entertainment, culture, and is therefore effectively providing you a service. the only valid debate is whether he’s being wasteful or is paid too much for said service. not whatever you just said

one day you’ll realize life isn’t fair and if you count the number of people that have it better than yourself you’d go crazy.

So stop counting what other people have and appreciate yourself, what you have, and the people around you. Stop being so miserable.

He’s NOT avoiding paying for anything. It’s a perk of his deal with them.

Is a basketball jerseys an essential item for life or even be fan? Why is this worded like LeBron is raising the price of food

you thought LeChopper was gonna ride amtrak?

Their merch is so mediocre

Rubin says it all

Wade did an interview about how cheap LeBron was and the two anecdotes I remember is he refuses to text people back until he gets someplace with WiFi, and he was using the free version of pandora that won’t let you skip songs and had commercials.

StreamEast brother!

There’s something funny about the thought of LeBron having to have a gmail or whatever to set up league pass.

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Zach Lowe suggested he get his own train. I liked that idea

The biggest thing with Kobe’s crash was the bad weather which made visibility terrible.

Kobe didnt make it any more or less likely yo have an heli accident. Just got you thinking more about it

just wait till you hear the stats of people who die in car accidents or crime during their commutes. you might just never leave home

My personal rule is I don’t get into anything that flies with less than 48 seats.

LeBron has a Kobe memorial tattoo and still thinks this is a good idea. Crazy

Helicopters, especially professional commercial aviation is very safe, just a bit less safe than driving a car.

Kobe’s accident was a series of very unfortunate circumstances, main of them flying in bad weather.

As long as Lebron doesn’t stupidly insist on flying whenever he wants regardless of the circumstances, he’s gonna be perfectly fine.

There has been like 2 fatal helicopter accidents in last 20 years in new york if you look at high level, professional, executive level flights (which is the only relevant one, since that’s the one LeBron is using).

Rode a helicopter biweekly for half a year in a war zone. I thought about Kobe every time it took a sharp turn or little kids took their laser pointers to set off the flare system for fun.

First he became LeGoat. Becoming LeKobe is next.

sounds like we shouldn’t have too much confidence in the quality of that helicopter then.

What are you even talking about? What does lebron riding a helicopter have to do with you or me buying a t-shirt?

So Rubin is essentially a booster, just at the pro level rather than in college. Got it!

Yeah, there’s stuff like this that seems like all the teams have an unspoken agreement that this is fine. Ballmer and Kawhi took it to another level.

How is this cap circumvention if he’s not part of the team anymore lol

I’m a bit confused… if he sold his stake in the sixers, how does he benefit from helping them circumvent the cap?

No, it’s like players wanting to play in La because of the sponsorships and fame. There are just some advantages outside of the cap that exist. Same as some states having not as much tax

What do u mean they reducing seats? European here

Or you could be from Akron Ohio, and be one of the best players to ever play the game and get rich doing that, then get shit.  There are still plenty of rags to riches stories out there it is not too late for you buddy.

That ain’t limited to this country

Unfortunately the helicopter is see through

he could so easily take the acela express and not worry about all the safety issues too

First time seeing limousine liberals?

Bro all yall just mad cuz you’re not rich lmao. Acting like you wouldn’t also be on a copter if you weren’t as rich as LeBron.

And before someone decides to high horse with a, I would never remember that you’ve never had money anywhere close to his. You would not be the same person hating in the comments

Unfortunately its (almost) every celebrity, and politician that dies exactly this while preaching “green” out of the side of their mouth

Don’t forget lecturing the rest of us about our carbon footprints while flying private everywhere.

Yep, 2 more draft picks for just uttering the word David Adleman

Ah yes, 76ers also got Lebron to go back in time and insert the helicopter clause in his 2024 contract with Fanatics.

Didn’t we just learn about this? A former player talked about how private jet rides etc are part of the total moneysry value of whatever deal they sign. Most likely Lebron is getting x in cash and y,z in material exchange (heli rides, hotel rooms) that combine for his 8 mil a year or whatever.

There’s also the fact that he apparently is dealing with chronic sciatica?

Gladwyne to Camden by car is 25 minutes according to google maps. The reports put the helicopter flight from NY to Philly at 45min, then you have to add 20-30min going from helipad to destination.

That 50 min difference is a big deal, 75 min of mandatory sitting with limited mobility is gonna be a killer for back pain no matter how many ice backs and compression gadgets he brings on the chopper.

Is there no place in Philly where celebs and rich people live? I feel like if I was as rich as as him I’d minimize my chances of dying lmal

this made me laugh

I’d just buy the nicest house in Philly and not fuck around with riding a helicopter every day.

do you think theres like some national database of the best helicopter pilots or something? and that they all dont take the same courses to get the same certifications?

I mean his pilots are not exactly navigating canyons and hills on his commute.

It’s a mostly flat commute that follows popular routes between the two cities.

It’s essentially a straight shot with no major concerns about visibility or anything obstacles

I understand for sure, there are people’s lives potentially on the line. But also this guy listens to Spotify ads. He’s not the kind of guy to order a side of guacamole let alone pay for his own helicopter ride.

There was also a KTLA news helicopter that crashed live reporting a fatal bus accident a few weeks ago…

EDIT: it was NBC4 news, not KTLA. Here’s the live POV from the helicopter, nothing graphic but if you’re sensitive to this stuff, don’t watch: https://youtu.be/_oqDOGDtbpw

You think fanatics is going to go cheap on LEBRON JAMES??

LeBron saw the Bam Onion headline and said “Bet”.

Kobe died because his pilot felt pressured to fly in inclement conditions due to his clientele (it’s Kobe Bryant lol).

As long as he doesn’t fly in shitty weather with pilots who feel obligated to appease their famous passengers instead of following protocol, he’ll be good

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Depends who you ask. I’ve always thought he was lame.

Been the lamest

You mean the guy who pretended to read?

Always has been 🔫

Jebron Lames has always been like this.

He’s literally just an ultra-capitalist. All the shitty parts of him comes from that.

He’s always been like that.

Yes, LePolymarket is back to his Heatle villain persona.

Remember when he bragged about being so frugal he didn’t pay for a Spotify membership or whatever it was at that time?

Doesn’t mind taking helicopter rides home nowadays though. Lol.

Becoming?

Idk, helicopter commutes are kinda dope

Lame for living where he chooses. LMFAO.

Been lame since The Decision

No you guys are becoming lame and projecting it onto others

You mean the guy who may as well have been grown in a Nike vat? That guy?

LeLame.

He doesn’t care what people think

How is this lame?

No. But of course r/nba needs someone to shit on since they’re bored

Feels like in the NBA any city that isn’t LA, NYC or Miami is considered a backwater lol

Don’t act like have the Philly fans don’t live in south jersey anyway

Plenty of people commute to work.

He has a place in both

Listen, I enjoy Lebron hate as much as the next guy but this is silly. Guess how many Warriors players lived in cities other than Oakland when the team was there.

Even the fans don’t want to live in Philly. I think they understand lol

He’s not refusing to get a place in Philly, he’s living in both Philly and New York. He told the media last week, why do people still think otherwise?

lol that’s just you guys being hyper sensitive clowns. He can live wherever he wants. It’s not personal.

He was going to be a Knick before he went to Miami if it wasn’t for Dolan

Airports are slow as fuck and a waste of time. high speed rail would be the best but America thinks that is communism.

he already told everyone he wanted to play for the knicks. i don’t think he really cares about the perception. they just got lebron on a minimum

I’ve never given a shit where players lived before and I’m not starting now. Would anyone give a shit if he was in Jersey?

Lots of players don’t live in the actual city they play in.

Bruh did we not just hear him say that he is staying in both cities a week ago?

this. i’m confused why he doesn’t just get a place in philly and stay there like 10% of the time, even if just for optics. it’s almost like he’s going out of his way to spend as little time in the city as humanly possible

Apparently he has a place in both cities

Have you been? It’s the fan’s fault he doesn’t want to come for making the place gross looking and unsafe in the first place.

Brother most players do this lol

Kobe didn’t live in LA. I don’t see the problem.

Is Philly that bad 💀

He’s literally chasing a ghost and struggling

Fans caring about that shit is so weird to me. It’s like you live vicariously through strangers who don’t even know who you are. Why do you care where he sleeps at night?

Nobody wants to live in Philly.

Lmaooo imagine being a philly fan and getting upset cuz Lebron doesn’t wanna stay in ur city. That shit is hilarious to think about.

Been a Sixers fan my entire life snd couldn’t care less where he lives

As a sixers fan that lives in NYC I feel very seen

why exactly would they care?

Sixers fan here. Couldn’t care less. Plenty of Philly athletes live in the South Jersey suburbs. If anything, it’s a shot at New Jersey rather than Philly that he chooses to live in NYC.

A lot of Knicks players have lived in Jersey over the years. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was most.

He just gotta get us a ring lol i don’t care where bro lives

Nice try, i couldn’t care less where he lives. We don’t get him without the Celtics giving us JB lol

Bro who gives a fuck😭 he’s not a politician trying to represent the city or anything. This is ridiculous.

Why would any fucking fan care where their player lives? Get a grip, fans are there to see him on the court, no his damn housing arrangements

Kobe didn’t live in LA. Nobody had a problem with that. And a team often does not represent just the city but the whole state as well.

If it doesn’t work out they will have to hear him talk about how he REALLY wanted to play for the Knicks. Wait they still have to hear him say that.

Being a true Philly fan is understanding why he wouldn’t want to live there

Have you been to Philly? Lol

LeFrugal

I needed that laugh… thank you. 😂

No he wouldn’t cuz that would go against the cap lol