LeBron James Almost Signed With Different Shoe Company

LeBron James is the player most associated with a big brand. He is the biggest fan of Nike, and has been wearing their gear his entire career. LeBron is on a lifetime contract with the company, and signed a contract worth $1 billion. In his book, LeBron, Inc: The Making of a Billion-Dollar Athlete, Briand Windhorst writes how LeBron would almost ended up somewhere else. Was he really ready to sign with a different shoe company?

King James was the most coveted endorser in the history of high school athletics. Before he ever played an NBA game, major shoe companies wanted to sign him. Reebok wanted LeBron with $100 million offer, and even offered a $10 million check.

LeBron wore Adidas in high school, but they only offered $60 million, as explained by Windhorst. Sneaker legend Sonny Vacarro left Adidas right after their low offer. Nike offered $70 million which was lower than Reebok’s offer. LeBron almost signed a contract with Reebok.

“But LeBron had something else on his mind. He knew the numbers. He’d been sitting with the reality that he might be going with Reebok for a couple of weeks at that point. But he didn’t want to do it. He didn’t like their shoes that much. A couple of years earlier, one of Reebok’s endorsers, Shawn Kemp, had said the shoes Reebok gave him failed during games, calling them “throwaways” in an interview with a newspaper reporter. Reebok sued Kemp for saying it, but he said it just the same. LeBron had always envisioned himself wearing Nike and wanted to be a part of their great ad campaigns and work with their designers.”

LeBron’s agent Aaron Goodwin reached out to Nike to tell them they will have LeBron for a higher offer. They agreed to a contract worth $87 million. The number went even higher, and we all know how it went.

LeBron is doing a great job with the company, and he will keep being their greatest endorser. Let’s see what happens next with their projects. This is a rather interesting story, right? Keep up the good job, LeBron!