In early 2025, reports emerged of a new international basketball league that was seeking to raise billions of dollars and take on the NBA for global supremacy. LeBron James’s business partner Maverick Carter was advising the league behind the scenes, though Front Office Sports reported James himself was not involved.
That league, which was calling itself Project B in stealth and is still using that name now, originally planned to launch in fall 2026 with men’s and women’s 5-on-5 basketball, but has since pushed back its start date to December.
As of June 2026, Project B has announced more than a dozen women’s players, but no men have yet to be announced. The league will not say how much money it has raised.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Carter told FOS in October that he’s no longer involved and “stepped away months ago.” In March, league cofounder Grady Burnett told The Athletic Carter is once again working with Project B, but Carter’s spokesperson told FOS he still has no formal role.
Many of the women’s players it has signed so far are big names getting big salaries that could shake up women’s basketball across the globe. Project B was originally set to make seven total stops across Asia, Europe, and the Americas, including in Valencia, Spain, and Tokyo, Japan. As of June, the league has decreased the number of stops to six.
