Maverick Carter explains the business behind LeBron James

Maverick Carter brought his rags to riches story to students at UNC yesterday. 

Hosted by Innovate Carolina, The Sutton Innovation Speaker Series kicked off by featuring Carter, the CEO of SpringHill Entertainment and LeBron James’ marketing agent.

Carter was a senior at St. Vincent–St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio when James was a first-year. He said their relationship has a long history but hasn’t changed much.

“Our relationship then and now is more or less the same, but the foundation of our relationship was that we looked to each other for advice and for understanding and we respect each other’s knowledge,” he said.

An innovator in his own right, Carter did not focus in his talk on his role in cultivating LeBron James’s billion-dollar deal with Nike, but how humility since youth led him to the success that he has found today as a 35-year-old man.

“My grandma gave me my foundation as an entrepreneur and businessperson and taught me how to be an entrepreneur before what I knew an entrepreneur even was,” Carter said. “She taught me really truly how to manage relationships and how to give people a feeling.”

Carter said he grew up in a troubling environment, but still managed to make the best of his surroundings.

“My father was a guy who dropped out of school in the eighth grade and only knew street life,” Carter said. “But I distilled the positive memories I learned like understanding people and being able to judge people very quickly, and I still practice that today in life.”

He said even though marketing is so much about branding, everyone, including James, is a human being, and being able to authentically touch basic human emotions should not be understated.

“When I met the (general manager of Nike Global Basketball), I was interested in really wanting to know how this all came together, and I think the questions I asked showed I had a basis of understanding.” Carter said. “I showed serious authenticity and curiosity.” 

He expanded on how the audience should apply these powerful skills in their lives.

“If you meet someone who’s in your field, come with a base of knowledge and do your homework,” Carter said. “I had a base of knowledge but also exuded to (the general manager of Nike Global Basketball) I had a thirst for more.”

Carter said his experience as one of the founding partners of Beats by Dre and how that led to his further understanding of the role of storytelling in the marketing industry. 

“Music through headphones is directly related to athletes’ performance and we told that story through advertising and the rest is history,” Carter said. “The fact of the matter is the best story wins.”

He said further experiences at Nike reiterated how storytelling, in spite of seeming simple, is arguably the most significant part of marketing.

“North Carolina is a huge Nike school for instance, but does Nike necessarily make better sneakers than other companies?” Carter asked. “Nike has told us better stories about their sneakers and they’ve told us better stories about the athletes who wear their sneakers.”

First-year Senay Tecle said the understated significance of authenticity really shined through Carter’s talk.

“He didn’t give a politically correct answer in regards to any of the questions he was asked, but just gave personal insights, and I feel like as students and young entrepreneurs, we need to hear insight that’s not politically correct at all times,” Tecle said.

First-year David Brewer said he found Carter’s advice on achieving success very insightful as well.

“He’s been in the game for a pretty long time now, and I enjoyed hearing from him that success doesn’t have a definition,” he said. “It’s more about what you make of your life, and that’s what really defines who you are.”

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