Why LeBron just wrote for China’s Communist Party

History has produced two big LBJs: President Lyndon B Johnson, and basketballer LeBron James.

For today, your favourite team of ex-diplomats will focus on… the basketballer.

We opened the Communist Party’s latest People’s Daily for some fresh takes on socialism with Chinese characteristics, but instead got an op-ed from the 6’9” forward from Akron, Ohio who went on to become the NBA’s all-time scorer. Was he weighing in on…

• Whether the pick-and-roll should ever be retired?

• If turning from corner threes to floaters is the next big innovation?

• Does Bronny (his son) have the handles or will he just inherit the hype?

No, dear Intriguer. LBJ pledged to “contribute to the development of Chinese basketball” and suggested the sport could even serve as a US-China “bridge”. Why?

This isn’t new (he’s now on his ~15th visit to China). Nor is he alone: Golden State’s Steph Curry just wrapped a China trip, and Clippers guard James Harden was there last month.

So… why? Three big reasons.

First, money: we’re guessing billionaire LBJ would love any future US-China bridge to be crossed by folks wearing his very own Nike LeBrons^™️ . Ditto for Curry’s Under Armour^© kicks, or Harden’s sweet sweet Adidas^® Volume 9s. Relatedly, that leads us to…

Second, the China market has been tough for US sports brands since at least 2019, when US-China ties were nose-diving, a pro-Hong Kong democracy tweet got the NBA a one-year ban in China, and then Covid closed whatever gap remained. In parallel, China’s own local rivals like Anta went on to crush it, carving a slice of China’s $60B sportswear pie.

So allowing LBJ the front page arguably now signals the NBA is welcome back. And that leads us to…

Third, LBJ frames his op-ed as sports diplomacy, and he does focus on his love for both basketball and China. But amid all those financial drivers above — and the absence of any apparent official DC endorsement — any diplomatic benefit might be incidental here.

But still, that’s not to diss any soft power value of having LBJ now tour China again after six years. To the contrary, recall 300 million folks in China now play basketball, after the NBA pulled off what no other US pro league has achieved: getting local traction.

Even a minor-league US player like Stephon Marbury now has his own statue, museum, and postage stamp in China after winning three championships with the Beijing Ducks. And of course, the good vibes flow both ways, too: Yao Ming’s NBA debut via the Houston Rockets long made him more recognisable to Americans than even China’s president!

And in an era of escalating US-China competition, that’s not nothing.

So maybe LBJ will join the ranks of 1970s-era ping-pongers preserving a high-vibes and low-risk channel for US-China dialogue. Or, you know, maybe he’ll just sell some more Nike LBJs.