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Hard not to be cynical about LeBron James' 'Cleveland Hustles'
LeBron James is the executive producer of "Cleveland Hustles," a new show that premieres tonight. USA TODAY Sports

Hard not to be cynical about LeBron's 'Cleveland Hustles'

The first of two efforts from executive producer LeBron James, Cleveland Hustles is one part competition, one part effort to document the revitalization of Gordon Square, an up-and-coming neighborhood in Cleveland.

On the surface, the goal of shining a light on a mission to build a business model designed to revive communities is laudable, and the first episode goes a long way to explain the overall premise of the show and its goal of selecting four businesses from a pool of 20 of Cleveland's most promising entrepreneurs.

Hosted by media executive Bonin Bough, much of Cleveland Hustles is reminiscent of ABC's Shark Tank with a grassroots bent. Instead of seeing hungry inventors plead their case to a panel of potential investors, this show takes the next step, as each of the four investors selects two potential entrepreneurs and tasks them with readying a one-day pop-up storefront within 48 hours with a specific goal. The investor then selects whom he or she wishes to go into business with, giving the entrepreneur a permanent storefront in Gordon Square.

The businesses featured are already established to some degree, so the prize up for grabs here is the storefront along with an infusion of cash in exchange, of course, for a percentage of the business.

Leading off as the first two competitors are Cleveland Bagel Co., a joint partnership between Geoff Hardman and Dan Herbst, and Styles of Success, a hair salon run by Chareen Fountain.

Both competitors are seeking a $100,000 investment, with both offering different levels of ownership. To call them competitors feels a bit unfair, as their business models are both wildly different and their end products are also not remotely the same. It's this difference that honestly presents itself as problematic as the episode continues.

As a food producer, Cleveland Bagel reaches a much broader yet specific market with an immediate need: Everyone who loves bagels will eat them. As a salon, Styles of Success, which, if successful, would be known as Torch Lofts, has a less immediate need, since most of the business is not only appointment-based, but is also dependent on renting out workspaces for independently contracting stylists.

Both competitors were given the task of producing results based on a one-day pop-up, with Cleveland Bagel needing to earn $400 in sales and Styles of Success needing to sign up 12 stylists. Here is where things become interesting.

Hardman and Herbst were rather lackadaisical in their effort to open, opting for evening hours... for a bagel shop. Their reasoning had to do with being preoccupied with their business, as if growing said business via this competition wasn't a part of that. They also frowned on much of the solid advice they were given, particularly the main piece of advice having to do with opening during morning hours.

By contrast, Fountain was nothing less than grateful every step of the way, accepting the investor's suggestions and open to the proposed changes, such as giving the salon an entirely new name and identity, something that, strangely enough, was never once asked of Cleveland Bagel — but more on that shortly.

As the preparation and planning continued, both businesses opened up on time; each achieved the goals set forth by the investor, so the drama that usually comes from these sorts of competitions was virtually nonexistent. To be honest, this is refreshing, as it's clear the real goal is to help actual businesses, not solely manufacture TV moments.

But then something happened that, in a sense, soured the whole thing.

When it came time to select the business he would back, investor Alan Glazen was understandably conflicted. His choice, however, was even more conflicting, and it inadvertently tells a larger tale of how community revitalization, or rather, gentrification, actually works.

While the goal set forth from the very beginning of the episode by LeBron was to revitalize the community, with the welcome side effect of bringing needed jobs, Glazen's selection actually flies in the face of that, and it's genuinely hard not to be cynical about how Cleveland Hustles will actually help a community, even with its lofty goals.

Looking at the preview for the following episode, something else mildly disturbing is coming to the forefront: The show is pitting black-owned businesses against white-owned businesses. While given the pool of applicants it was bound to happen, the owners of Cleveland Bagel are white, with the owner of Styles of Success black. That's two consecutive episodes of a four-episode series featuring black owners versus white owners for the right to revitalize or gentrify a struggling (or maybe not-so-struggling) community.

Moreover, why was Fountain, the black owner, asked to change her branding and image to fit the new storefront? Of course, there's a reason for everything, and Fountain was receptive, so it's more an issue of optics than anything else.

When it comes down to it, Cleveland Hustles is a decent concept in a limited package, but the subtext is troubling, which could end up being a turn-off for audiences and at worst a slight tarnish to the good efforts of LeBron James.

Cleveland Hustles premieres tonight at 10 p.m. ET on CNBC.

Can you name every Cleveland Cavaliers first round draft pick since 1985?
SCORE:
0/32
TIME:
5:00
1985: 9, PF/C, Virginia Union
Charles Oakley
1986: 1, C, UNC
Brad Daugherty
1986: 8, SG/PG, Miami (OH)
Ron Harper
1987: 7, PG, California
Kevin Johnson
1988: 22, SF, Southern Mississippi
Randolph Keys
1989: 25, SG/SF, Seton Hall
John Morton
1991: 11, PG, Oregon
Terrell Brandon
1993: 22, SF/PF, Arizona
Chris Mills
1995: 17, SG/PG, Florida St.
Bob Sura
1996: 12, C, Wright St.
Vitaly Potapenko
1996: 20, C, Lithuania
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
1997: 13, SG/SF/PG, Kentucky
Derek Anderson
1997: 16, PG, Stanford
Brevin Knight
1999: 8, PG/SG, Utah
Andre Miller
1999: 11, SG, Duke
Trajan Langdon
2000: 8, SG/PG, Michigan
Jamal Crawford
2001: 8, C/PF, Senegal
DeSagana Diop
2001: 20, C, UNC
Brendan Haywood
2002: 6, SG, Memphis
Dajuan Wagner
2003: 1, SF/PF/SG, St. Vincent-St. Mary (HS)
LeBron James
2004: 10, F, Oregon
Luke Jackson
2006: 25, SG, Mich. St.
Shannon Brown
2008: 19, PF/C, NC St.
J.J. Hickson
2009: 30, SF, Dem. Rep. of Congo
Christian Eyenga
2011: 1, PG, Duke
Kyrie Irving
2011: 4, PF, Texas
Tristan Thompson
2012: 4, SG, Syracuse
Dion Waiters
2012: 24, SG, Ore. St.
Jared Cunningham
2013: 1, PF, UNLV
Anthony Bennett
2013: 19, SF/SG, Russia
Sergey Karasev
2014: 1, SG, Kansas
Andrew Wiggins
2015: 24, PG, Duke
Tyus Jones

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