In a bid to make the bring basketball to an even bigger worldwide audience, the NBA is donating $1 million dollars to Prince William and Kate Middleton's charity for attending a Cavaliers-Nets game featuring LeBron James at Brooklyn's Barclays Center next month.
The decision by the couple to attend that particular game means the Royals will get to meet King James — still the NBA's reigning star.
NBA insiders believe that the image of the royal couple at the game inside Barclays Center will be shown around the world, helping the sport gain new fans.
"It's an incredible publicity coup for the NBA,'"an insider told MailOnline.
"The images of them all together will be seen all over the world — it's a marketing man's dream. A million bucks is a small price to pay for the publicity the NBA's going to get."
Friends say that Kate and William had expressed an interest in attending a basketball game at legendary Madison Square Garden when they were planning their December 7-9 visit to the city.
But the couple snubbed the New York Knicks vs. Portland Trailblazers game on December 7 in favor of seeing LeBron play the following night.
"Kate and William are both big sports fans'," explained the friend.
"And although basketball isn't big in Britain, William has heard of LeBron James... although Kate apparently had no idea who he was!"
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will also be present at the game and is said to be beside himself with excitement at the public relations coup.
And while most attention-seeking celebrities usually sit courtside, the Duke and pregnant Duchess are expected to be viewing the game from the relative safety of a private box.
They will probably meet music royalty when Beyonce and former Nets minority owner, Jay Z, are expected take in the action on the same night.
That might be the photo-op of the year.
