‘King’ LeBron James Consults Kabbalist

Courtesy of TMZ

By Josh Nathan-Kazis August 11, 2010

In the wake of his much-maligned primetime special announcing his move to the Miami Heat, is hoops superstar LeBron James desperate for some good advice?

That’s James’ ghostwriter Buzz Bissinger’s take on gossip blog TMZ’s scoop that the Heat’s new forward sought the advice of Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto, the kabbalist guru we covered in June.

“Whoever this rabbi is or isn’t, he can’t possibly give worse advice than his handlers have given him,” said Bissinger, who co-authored a biography titled “Shooting Stars” with the player. “The Decision,” James’ hour-long announcement aired on ESPN on July 8 to near-unanimous derision.

In a picture posted on TMZ’s website yesterday, James held hands with the bearded Pinto, 37. The basketball player looks puzzled, and perhaps slightly uncomfortable.

Pinto, whose organization Shuva Israel has its Manhattan headquarters on East 58th Street, does not speak English. It was not immediately clear how the two had communicated. Spokesmen for James and Pinto declined to comment.

According to TMZ, James paid Pinto “in the neighborhood of 6-figures” to sit in on a business meeting. Pinto regularly advises his followers on business matters.

“There’s a component of that where someone believes that the kabbalist can predict the profitability, or lack thereof, of a specific investment,” said Jonathan Nachmani, a real estate investor and a member of the Sephardic community who has met Pinto many times. He maintained that Pinto would “never give a guarantee one way or the other” regarding the prospects of a deal.

Bissinger said that James doesn’t spend money frivolously. “He’s very careful with money and he doesn’t throw it around,” he explained. “So obviously he did this for specific reasons. To him it’s very serious.”

Josh Nathan-Kazis is a staff writer for the Forward. He covers charities and politics, and writes investigations and longform.

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.

In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.

At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.

Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO