James is in Angola with his Team AlUla in the latest stop on the UIM E1 World Championship, the first time the series has raced in Southern Africa.
The 41-year-old is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer having passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 2023 and is a winner of four championship rings with Miami Heat (2012, 2013), the Cleveland Cavaliers (2016) and Los Angeles Lakers (2020).
He interacted with the young players and watched as they were put through their paces on the court.
James recently signed with the Philadelphia 76ers for the 2026/27 NBA season, his 24th campaign in the league.
E1 is in its third season and continues to grow in stature as it stages its first race in Southern Africa and its second on the continent following Lagos in 2025.
It has several celebrity owners, including American Football legend Tom Brady, tennis great Rafael Nadal, Indian cricket star Virat Kohli, former Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba and even Hollywood star Will Smith, who was also in Luanda.
Team Brady have won the championship in the first two years of competition in 2024 and 2025, and lead the championship again this season with pilots Emma Kimiläinen and Sam Coleman in the cockpit.
The E1 Series is an all-electric powerboat championship in which teams race futuristic RaceBird boats on short, tight courses laid out close to shore. Each team has two pilots, one male and one female, who share driving duties across the weekend.
The boats are designed for speed, agility and close racing, with qualifying used to set the order before a series of heats and knockout races determine who advances to the final.