Maverick Carter, a media mogul and longtime business partner of LeBron James, will deliver the keynote speech at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism's 2019 commencement ceremony on May 10.
Carter is the CEO of several media companies he co-founded with James, such as UNINTERRUPTED, which gives athletes and celebrities a platform "to amplify their stories and connect with fans on a deeper level," according to the company's LinkedIn page. The two also founded Springhill Entertainment, which partners with Warner Bros. Entertainment, Facebook and YouTube to produce stories for broadcast, documentary and digital platforms.
Carter spoke with USC Annenberg Media over the phone about his reaction to his latest title as commencement speaker.
"I felt very surprised," he said. "After I got over the surprise that they were asking me – being that I'm not a person who graduated from any college, let alone a communications school as prestigious as USC – …I was actually very honored."
Annenberg's pick for keynote speaker is an influential figure in the Hollywood media landscape, specifically at the intersection of the sports and entertainment industries where there is an "emotional connection" between storytellers and audiences, according to Carter. He said with both sports and entertainment, it's about "letting people see your art and sharing your art with the world…. They get to see your triumph, and they get to see your flaws all at the same time."
Carter is also passionate about empowering others, something USC Annenberg Dean Willow Bay alluded to in why he was chosen as the school's commencement speaker.
"Throughout his career, Maverick Carter has brought a creative vision to upending familiar business models by seeing through traditional industry divides, cultural silos and outmoded hierarchies," she said in a press release. "His is a story defined by curiosity, inspiration and empowerment, which is precisely the message we hope to leave imprinted on the hearts and minds of our graduates."
Carter's message of empowerment has driven the way he's helped build the brand of James, the four-time NBA MVP currently playing for the LA Lakers as small forward/power forward. James and Carter grew up together in Akron, Ohio and played basketball together when Carter was a senior and James was a freshman in high school. In 2004, Carter and James teamed up with Randy Mims, another childhood friend, to start what FOX Sports reporter Jason Whitlock called the "LeBrontourage." The two began managing James through their own company, LRMR (now LRMR Ventures), according to The Root.
James and Carter's knack for business ventures not only profited in their media companies' successes, such as Springhill Entertainment executively producing HBO's first feature-length documentary about boxer Muhammad Ali, but also in the pair's sneaker deals. In an interview with GQ, Carter hinted at how big the lifetime endorsement deal James made with Nike – "one finger skyward" of $1 billion, the largest deal in the company's history. "I mean it's more about what was good for the company and what was good for LeBron," Carter told Annenberg Media. "I think also their understanding of him and believing that he wants to build something amazing, and not just make money, but build something that really lasts and something that lasts a lot longer than his career does and maybe even longer than he does as a business person." Carter did not confirm or deny the mention of the deal's dollar amount.
The message he hopes lasts with the graduates listening to his speech in May is that everyone has a story to tell.
"Whether you're the most talented basketball player in the world or a very smart student about to graduate college, we all have a story," he said. "We all have a story of triumph and especially students who are graduating, who have been able to overcome things to get to the place where they are, so I think that feeling and that version of your story is in everyone."
Here are two pieces of advice Carter already has to offer for USC Annenberg graduates:
- You should be comfortable continuing to learn after graduation. “Your resume is your resume, but your resume’s in the past, and what’s ahead of you is unknown,” he said. “What’s behind you, you know you did it, people know you did it. But what you’re about to attempt, you have no idea, so you don’t know, and you have to learn, but you have to be okay with learning.”
- The key to storytelling is establishing an emotional connection. “How did you really bring someone into the story that you’re trying to tell them and make sure they understand then and connect with it in a way that’s personal to them?” Carter asked. “Once you get them hooked emotionally, then you can take them on that journey with you.”
USC Annenberg's commencement ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. on McCarthy Quad following USC's main commencement ceremony, which begins at 8:30 a.m. at Alumni Memorial Park. The ceremony does not require tickets this year.