Obviously "competitive sport" is a continuum in this sense. And clearly, LeBron James places in a very artificial environment. By design, the NBA is a league where millionaire players are serfs without a say in where they live, and where poorly managed teams get rewarded by high draft picks. It's great for the people who designed it. But those people are not the fans.

Now, naturally, "fans" is a bit different concept in North America, as they're typically peons who start cheering for their newly relocated team because they have a funny logo.