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LeBron, CNBC hope to score with TV show

Basketball star’s project will give back to Cleveland

By Emily Yahr, The Washington Post
Published: June 24, 2016, 5:56am

The glorious city of Cleveland rightfully lost its mind Sunday night 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-themed 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.

According to CNBC, 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 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.

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 himself — 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 comedy “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; and SpringHill is also behind “The Wall,” a new trivia game show on NBC.

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