Maverick Carter, the co-founder of sports marketing company LRMR and longtime business manager of Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, is the lead advisor for a group of investors seeking to create an international basketball league. As reported by Bloomberg, the group of investors are seeking $5 billion in capital to form the league, which aims to rival the NBA.

Those familiar with the matter reveal that UBS and Evercore will be the ones raising the funds, with notable backers including Skype co-founder Geoff Prentice and former Facebook executive Grady Burnett. The league will reportedly consist of 12 teams: six men’s and six women’s. Games will be played in eight cities around the globe, and its schedule will be structured similarly to Formula F1 races.

LeBron James, for as vocal as he has been in the past about his desire to one day own an NBA team, is not involved in Carter’s ambitious endeavour, as confirmed by Front Office Sports. LeBron is contracted with the Lakers until the end of the 2025-2026 season, so it makes sense that he wouldn’t want to be mixed in with a rival league while still being an active NBA player.

The NBA hasn’t had a proper competitor since the ABA days before their merger in 1976. Though leagues around the globe exist, with the Euroleague being one of the biggest, they’re still not a direct competitor to the NBA. It will be interesting to see if Carter and his investors will be able to pull off something of this magnitude. If there was any time to do it, it would be now as the NBA continues to struggle with ratings.