You'll never probably know LeBron the real person. It sucks. Here's a late welcome into the age of the Corporate Athlete.
Sure won't...and never will you. Nor do any of us need to. All that really matters is what he does on the court. But everything that I see from him equals a lame. You see whatever you want to.
He announced he was opting out a YEAR before. Thats what I was saying. The plan was to go around and shop himself in a similar fashion to Lebron.
He entertained the Bulls too during his fa period. Nothing close to this though.
I think that Wade and Bosh are doing it to ride the marketing coatails of Lebron. Amare is the only somewhat major guy who isnt doing this and I respect him for getting the most money he could on his basketball contract.
The best marketing for an athlete is winning, but right now were seeing Lebron getting ready to market himself for long after he stops playing basketball.
Plus none of these options are guaranteed to bring him titles even if he, Joe Johnson, Bosh and Derrick Rose end up on the same team.
Lebron has to become a multi faceted billion dollar brand ( at least in his mind) and the only way to do that is to relaunch websites during free agency, let the media know where your pitch meetings are taking place and have every basketball fan, executive on madison ave and the folks at nike on the edge of their seats.
Nike's stock could go up 2-3 dollars if Lebron leaves Cleveland. It could even go up if he stays in Cleveland. You have got to understand that although I will admit it seems corny, hes doing this because since he hired his friends his brands value has gone down. His shoes have underperformed consistantly, and although hes the best name in terms of an athlete right now its much more effiecnt to pay a Dwight Howard, or a Wade, or a Garnett ( with a couple young guys I would watch Durant, Rose) a little over half of what Lebron comands to effectively market your product.
I am of the opinion that Lebron cannot win right now. The winning thing wont make his marketing much better if the media mentions how he had to abandon his home state team to get there. And any boost Nike gets would be temporary because they have taken the realism out of Lebron and made him a puppet. I'm not saying he has to display any political views, I'm not saying you need to make Lebron more street. I'm saying that Lebron and his marketing lack any sort of edge. If thats indictive of his personality so be it. But it means also that Lebron and his attention whoring have made him less marketable. Imagine if he does this again three years from now? Not only will fans of the NBA be tired of his what will be then characterized as diva activity, but the fringe consumer will be less enthused with Lebron because if he stays in Cleveland they will more than likely not be able to make the moves to win a title.
The Cavs have played their screwups perfectly. They should have did what ever they could to get Amare instead of Jamison.
But now were watching them litterally force Lebron's marketing team and his single most coveted resource (money) to force Lebron back.
