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Basketball Mon Oct 25 2010
Shoe Porn: Nike's New LeBrons and Rebuilding LBJ
We're officially one day and counting 'til the return of the NBA season. With a new season well-nigh upon us, new shoes and new commercials are flooding the markets. Last week saw the debut of Derrick Rose's new kicks. This week? The polarizing Mr. LeBron James. James, who before ever touching NBA hardwood, was awarded one of the most lucrative shoe deals in history; is still with Nike and still trying to repair his image and move past this summer's dizzying and insane high stakes game of human poker known as "free agency." James, who famously spurned his home state's Cleveland Cavaliers and flirted aggressively with teams ranging from the Bulls to the New Jersey Nets to the New York Knicks before "taking his talents to South Beach" on the one-hour train wreck known as "The Decision."
Nike wisely was wholly removed from that televised debacle -there was nary a "Swoosh" on the ESPN set and no Nike commercials were broadcast during the show. And now with this commercial dubbed "Rise," Phil Knight's company is back in their man James' corner. Nike is no stranger to resuscitating maligned athletes. See, Tiger Woods' famous spot from last spring after his sordid scandals were thrown to the public. Also, if you'll recall, Kobe Bean Bryant being swooped up by Nike Basketball following adidas' removal during his rape trial. Rightly or wrongly, James is more or less the villain in so many people's eyes. From Ohioans swearing his name to others simply shocked by the gall and ego of someone broadcasting a one-hour special and answering softball lobs from a hand-picked "journalist*" on national television for the sake of their own comically inflated ego being stroked more; LBJ burned a lot of bridges this offseason.
The Nike ad is more about LBJ's future according to the press release and something I noticed was the utter lack of any Miami Heat uni -the only NBA jersey I saw was the 'Bron Cavs one as the "We Are All Witnesses" signage is ripped down in fake Cleveland in the commercial. Again, this is Nike working their fine line of image control and product placement at its finest. Say what you want about LeBron (no championships, cry baby, etc.) or Nike (sweatshops, money, money, money) but recognize real (Nike) repairing and rebuilding the fake (LeBron) with savvy and polish. What do you think of the ad? Comments, people.
*Seriously, Jim Gray sucks.
