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.
La La Anthony recently told TMZ her opinion definitely matters when it comes to where Carmelo plays next season. And you know that’s right. The woman is a star in her own right. Just coming off a role in the summer blockbuster, “Think Like A Man Too“, Lala has scores of business interests including her TV show on VH1, “La la’s Full Court Life“. La la also has her clothing line, 5th and Mercer.
Can Carmelo be convinced to go to a market like Chicago, stay in a bigger market like New York or be tempted to flee to Los Angeles where the Clippers or the Lakers would receive the Anthony family with open arms and hefty checks? Whatever decision Melo eventually makes, you know it needs to get the green light from La la.
LeBron and Savannah James
James and Brinson met in high school when they were just 16 years old, after a long engagement the longtime sweethearts got married last year. They have two children together: 8-year-old Lebron James, Jr. and 6-year-old Bryce Maximus James. The couple is expecting their third child, a girl.
She recently opened up, The Juice Spot, serving liquid health in the Miami, Brickell area. Brinson reportedly got into the raw, cold-pressed juice craze after trying them out while dropping pounds for their wedding.
Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union
Wade and Gabrielle Union are not married yet. But they are engaged. And whatever decision he makes, he’ll most likely have to include Union as a factor. All signs point to D-Wade staying in Miami and his contract with the Miami Heat.
But if he does opt out, her thriving acting career as an actress will be affected. Will she be more comfortable working out of Miami or will she prefer to move to Los Angeles? Her show “Being Mary Jane” is bonafide hit on BET.
Ray and Shannon Allen
Allen married Shannon Walker Williams in 2008. He recently talked about his potential free agency with ESPN, saying “Whether that is me retiring, staying here or going somewhere else, it will be on my terms. I’ve made it to this point, and I felt great that I have the choice to make it for myself.”
If Allen does not return to Miami, he will have options as a free agent. He likely only plans on signing with a contender. At this point in his career, Allen does not want to join a rebuilding unit like the Boston Celtics. But he’ll have to okay the decision with Shannon.
They met when Allen was playing college basketball at the University of Connecticut. They have three children including their son, Walker, who was diagnosed with diabetes. Ray and Shannon are activists in the diabetes community. Allen is a singer, songwriter, actress and television producer. She studied music at Northeastern University and formed the R&B group, Shades, which was signed to Motown Records.
Today, she continues her passion for music by writing and producing songs for her independent record label, New Music Chronicles, which she co-owns and operates.
After leaving Shades to pursue her acting career, Shannon made guest appearances on “Sex and the City†and “Strangers With Candy,†and has performed in recurring roles on “Blues Clues,†and “Century City†and “Sesame English.†She also launched her new TV show, “Pre-Game Meal.â€
Chris and Adrienne Bosh
Bosh married Adrienne Williams in July 2011.
Williams is a former model who’s posed in Smooth magazine. The couple are raising three children including one from a former relationship. Adrienne is looking after their kids, but can you imagine uprooting three children from South Beach and taking them back to Toronto? Not likely.
Dirk and Jessica Nowitski
Nowitski married Jessica Olsson in a traditional African wedding ceremony back in 2012. Olsson is half-Swedish and half-Kenyan. It’s tough to imagine Dirk playing anywhere else from Dallas. But we also thought the same way about Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.
Nowitski did put the Mavericks on notice though, saying, “Honestly, I can’t see myself going anywhere else but here,” Nowitzki said. “Really, the pressure is on Mark and Donnie to get this franchise back to where it belongs. They know that. And then we’re all good; everything is fine.
But he did say, “I mean,
I belong to this city. That’s just the bottom line. I could never see myself playing for another franchise, putting another jersey on. That would be probably the hardest thing I’ve had to do in my life. I want to stay here.”The couple have a baby girl born July 2013.
Paul and Julie Pierce
Paul and Julie married July 17, 2010 in an ocean-view wedding on the West Coast. The couple’s 2-year-old daughter Prianna served as flower girl.
Landrum is an interior decorator and designer. When Pierce was going through a very difficult period he reportedly said this about Julie: “She really helped me through that year in 2007, provided me the support when I was down a lot. She’s an amazing woman. We get along so well because we were such good friends. We started dating after the All-Star weekend in Houston three years ago.”
The couple have three children, two daughters and a son.