The "Fixer" for LeBron James ⇪

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The “Fixer” for LeBron James

LeBron James was in tears on the hood of his Burgundy Bentley at 3 AM in Miami in 2010.

He'd just signed a $110M contract—and was having a full breakdown in his friend's driveway.

LeBron had just made "The Decision" to leave Cleveland for Miami. His jerseys were being burned across Ohio. He was living alone in a hotel room, separated from his family.

The Heat had lost as many games as they’d won. He felt like he'd made a catastrophic mistake.

But that night, his chief of staff, Randy Mims, didn't lecture him. He didn't give him a pep talk. He just listened and asked questions.

It was an inflection point. From there, LeBron went on to:

• Win 4 championships

• Become a billionaire

• Break the NBA scoring record

22 years after LeBron’s career began, Randy is still by his side (after starting out as his assistant) as the key man, “the fixer,” in one of the most dynastic sports legacies of all time.

He's turned down countless opportunities to capitalize on his relationship with LeBron. He's never written a tell-all book or done the media circuit.

This is because Randy knows two critical things:

1. The role of a great chief of staff, or assistant, isn’t to be the superstar. Rather, it’s to be there in the dark moments, steady the ship, and keep everything running behind the scenes.

2. The heart of any work relationship is actually personal. The rapport he and LeBron have built started right away. And you can do the same thing with your assistant even if you are the type who shies away from small talk—here’s a great example from an Athena member.

An assistant isn’t just there to take tasks off your plate. The relationship you build defines its impact. The best partnerships go beyond efficiency—they’re about trust, consistency, and having someone who’s in it for the long haul.

Because when the pressure is on and you’re at your breaking point, the right person by your side makes the difference.

Read more about the partnership upon which LeBron’s empire was built in our recent blog post.

_{Adapted from ESPN’s feature on Randy Mims}

Don’t Pass the Ball, Let Your Assistant Run the Play

Your assistant rearranged your week so you can make it to your son’s martial arts tournament. Submitted your expenses to capture all write-offs. Booked that dental cleaning you’ve been putting off.

Yet you still feel that familiar knot in your stomach.

You were hoping for the magical feeling that the world is conspiring in your favor.

Yes, the logistics are off your plate—but every decision and judgment call still flows through you. Your calendar is clearer, but your mind isn’t.

Now imagine this instead:

• A Notion doc appears: "Based on how you handled the Acme deal last quarter, I've drafted a response to Summit’s proposal. Highlighted three points where we should push back. Ready for your 30-second review."

• Your assistant has already jump-started the stalled job candidate recruitment. Recognizing patterns from your past negotiations, they knew exactly which lever to pull.

• That networking event was politely declined—your assistant knows your focus in Q1 is on mentorship.

This is the turning point: instead of merely handing off tasks, you’ve empowered your assistant to steer decisions. They’re applying your thought process, not just your to-do list.

An assistant without context will always be a task-taker, not a decision-maker. That’s why you still feel the weight of the work—because the mental load never actually leaves you.

Two resources to help you make a shift:

1) The 3 critical types of context your assistant needs to operate at the next level

2) Two frameworks to transfer context and thought process: