Miami Heat forward LeBron James, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, said on Wednesday he hopes to be involved with David Beckham's plan to bring a Major League Soccer team to Miami.

Former England soccer captain Beckham, who has become a close friend of James in recent years and often attends Heat games in Miami, announced earlier in the day he had exercised his option to become the owner of an MLS franchise in that city.

"Hopefully I can be part of it," James said when asked if he was involved in Beckham's bid to build a world-class soccer team, as yet unnamed, in Florida.