Talk about a superstar pairing. LeBron James said Monday he’s interesting in joining forces with David Beckham to bring a Major League Soccer franchise to Miami.
"There's some interest on both sides," said James, the four-time NBA MVP and face of the Miami Heat. "David has become a good friend of mine over the last few years, and I think it would be great for this city to have a football club for sure. So there's interest on both sides but it's preliminary talks."
Beckham, the recently retired soccer superstar and former English team captain, visited Miami last week as part of his effort to bring an expansion team to the city.
Beckham checked out Marlins Park – which could be at least a temporary site for the soccer club – and had dinner with Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and billionaire businessman Marcelo Claure, his potential partner for a new MLS team.
South Florida had a previous franchise in the MLS – the Miami Fusion, who played at Lockhart Stadium between 1998 and 2002, the South Florida Sun Sentinel said.
An official announcement that Orlando will get the league’s 21st franchise could happen as soon as this week, NBC Sports’ ProSoccer Talk reported.
"The research is still being made out, but I think it could be huge,” James said of the possible Miami team. "You never know. But I think this is a great town for soccer. There's a lot of soccer players here, there's great youth soccer players here and people love the city as well, so that definitely would help."
James has been a part owner of the English soccer team Liverpool since 2011, the Sun Sentinel noted.
Since then, James said, “I’ve grown a great interest in watching the game and learning guys, and it’s a pretty intense sport, and my kids love it as well. But I’ve grown to the point where I know exactly what’s going on when I’m watching a game.”
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On Monday James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 11-17 after he scored a league-best 34.0 points per game to go along with an average of 4.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists. The Heat won all three of their games.
It is the 44th time James has been named a Player of the Week – more than any other player in NBA history.
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