Naomi Osaka starts media company in partnership with LeBron James

New Delhi: Tennis star Naomi Osaka and NBA star athlete LeBron James have started a media company of their own. They have named the company ‘Hana Kuma’. After launching an athlete representation agency called Evolve, the 4-times Grand Slam winner has launched the media production firm in partnership with LeBron’s ‘The SpringHill Company’.

According to a press release, Hana Kuma will focus on scripted and non-fiction content based on “empowering” and “culturally specific” stories. The press release also said that it will be starting with a documentary about Patsy Mink, the first woman of colour elected to the US Congress.

“There has been an explosion of creators of colour finally being equipped with resources and a huge platform. In the streaming age, content has a more global perspective. You can see this in the popularity of television from Asia, Europe and Latin America that the unique can also be universal. My story is a testament to that as well,” Osaka said.

Apart from James and Maverick Carter’s The SpringHill Company, Hana Kuma also has ties with crypto exchange platform FTX and health platform Modern Health.

The name ‘Hana Kuma’ means ‘flower bear’ in Japanese. However, this name means different in Kenyan. ‘Kuma’ is a Kenyan slang for ‘vagina’, and noticing this Twitter is loaded with tweets on the choice of the name.

Me trying to convince KOT that Hana Kuma is a media company by Naomi Osaka and Lebron James. pic.twitter.com/7Rs7MNLSYa

— Ole Wako (@Ole_The_Master) June 22, 2022

“Hana Kuma is just a media channel.”

My dad: pic.twitter.com/Sco5r5Lsrc

— 🍁𝐁𝐀𝐃 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐀🍁 (@Its_Ouma) June 22, 2022

Moreover, in their partnership LeBron James’ media conglomerate will provide production and strategic resources to Hana Kuma.