With all the buzz surrounding free agency this summer in the NBA after Monday’s big announcement by LeBron James opting out of his contract with the Miami Heat, the internet has been on fire.
Free agency is a time when the players have leverage over their respective teams and an opportunity to make more money while being wooed and courted by the biggest teams.
You pick your team and you go there. It’s all clean and simple. Right? Not so fast.
Truth be told, free agency isn’t just about the players packing up shop and bolting to a new town. They also have to think about uprooting their wives and children, and some of those wives are ballers in the business world, too. They also have brands to consider. It’s different when a player is traded by his team and is forced to leave. Not including wives or fiances in the equation is a recipe for divorce.
Free agency gives a player the opportunity to choose whether to leave or stay. And they most likely have to consider the business interests of their better halves.
Let’s take a look at the business interests of the wives of some of the players staring down free agency.