|
King
James: Lebron, air apparent and transformer
of the NBA
Patrick
Hodgson
NBA phenom Lebron James is revolutionizing
not just basketball, but sports as a whole.
He
is doing what Magic Johnson and Larry Bird
did in the '80s and what Michael Jordan
did in the '90s. Ever since Jordan's second
retirement in 1998, the NBA has attempted
to find a new poster boy for the league.
They
first tried it with Grant Hill, but that
failed when Hill became fragile goods and
missed almost 200 games due to a career-threatening
ankle injury. After Hill, they tried Kobe
Bryant.
Bryant
lacked the personality necessary to sell
products and eventually lost the majority
of his endorsements when he was accused
of rape. During this period, there was a
young talent emerging in Akron, Ohio named
Lebron.
Many
agents, scouts and executives for various
companies were heavily courting Lebron while
he was a junior at St. Vincent-St. Mary
High School. They knew he could be marketed
because he was a first-team All-American
and had a million-dollar smile not seen
since Magic.
In
fact, James attempted to alter the rules
and declare for the NBA draft while a junior
in high school. He was unsuccessful and
would have to wait another year.
By
the time his senior year came around, James
received so much hype and was the coverboy
for Sports Illustrated and ESPN magazine.
He also received the nickname "King"
and had his high school basketball games
televised nationally on ESPN and Pay-Per-View.
James
was an essential lock for the No. 1-pick
in the NBA draft and had a $10 million insurance
policy in case of injury.
Several
analysts did not think he could live up
to the hype, and boy were they wrong.
James
has changed the landscape of marketing.
He has well over $100 million locked up
in endorsement deals over the next six years
with Nike, Sprite, Upper Deck trading cards,
Powerade and Bubblelicious.
On
the courts, James is just as successful.
He is averaging 25 points, seven rebounds,
seven assists and is second in the league
with 2.3 steals per game—remember,
this guy just turned 20.
Even
more impressive is how he has turned around
the Cleveland Cavaliers' franchise that
was the laughing stock of the league and
had only won 19 games the season prior to
his arrival.
James
has made his relatively unknown teammates
better. In fact, teammates Drew Gooden and
Jeff McGinnis have improved significantly
and both have attributed it to "King
James." Not even the great Jordan did
this early in his career.
Jordan
and the Chicago Bulls won only 35 games
in his second season. In addition, Jordan
was deemed selfish by his teammates.
At
the end of the day, I expect James to set
a new bar for not only basketball players
but for all athletes. The sky is the limit
for him.
In
about six years when all of his contracts
are up, can you imagine what kind of money
he will receive? Can you say $200 million
contracts and can you say $200 basketball
shoe? I can, and I can also see a couple
of MVPs and championships to go along with
that.
|
