LeBron James, His Production Company Win Sports Emmy For Muhammad Ali Documentary
LeBron James already has three NBA championships, four league MVPs, and two Olympic gold medals, and now he can add Sports Emmy winner to that list of triumphs.
The Los Angeles Lakers star and his production company Spring Hill Entertainment took home the prize for HBO’s “What’s My Name | Muhammad Ali Part I” on Tuesday, August 11. The award was in the category of Outstanding Long Sports Documentary.
James congratulated his team at Spring Hill in a tweet on that same day and tagged his business partner Maverick Carter, who executive produced the HBO project with him.
Premiering in 2019, the Muhammad Ali documentary shows the various sides of the late heavyweight fighter, including his historic boxing career and the social activism he was involved in. It also has never-before-seen footage from his fighting days and other vintage material. Ali, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1984, passed away in 2016 in Scottsdale, Arizona, at age 74.
James was also nominated in the category of Outstanding Edited Sports Special or Series for his HBO show “The Shop: UNINTERRUPTED,” where the hoops star and other celebrities sit in a barbershop and discuss the day’s events. The series premiered in 2018 and co-stars Carter.
On top of the Emmy win and nomination, the Ohio-born athlete will be honored by the African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) for his documentary “I Promise,” which depicts the course of the first year of his I Promise School in his hometown of Akron, Ohio. He opened the school in 2018 for at-risk students.
LeBron James and the rest of the winners will be honored by AAFCA in a virtual ceremony on August 22.