LeBron James is one of the greatest players in NBA. The star joined the league right after high school and became a legend just like Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan. While still a student, LeBron, and his teammates raised money to buy themselves uniforms and boost their basketball careers. Surprisingly, LeBron is not just a basketball superstar, but also a businessman. Here are the few facts about LeBron James.
He has his own shoe model
The star has his own shoe design under Nike, which is the world’s leading shoe company. The shoes are the biggest contract Nike has ever had, and the company signed LeBron to a 7-year contract worth $90 million.
Since 2003, LeBron's shoes have been on the market and are the most selling Nike’s signature shoes.
LeBron loves to be on the camera
The basketball superstar and Maverick Carter own “Uninterrupted, ” and they have been friends since childhood. LeBron often appears in front of the cameras. He once narrated in a web series, “Kneading Dough,” how he turned down Reebok’s $10 million offer in 2003 which was an agreement not to be in a meeting with Adidas or Nike. He also appeared his show’s project “The Shop” which is usually a 30-minute talk show in a barbershop.
His teammates almost left him for 2008 Beijing Olympics because of his attitude
The USA team’s coach Mike Krzyzewski and Jerry Colangelo, who was USA Basketball managing director, felt LeBron was immature and disrespectful due to his behavior in the 2004 Olympics and 2006 World Championships and didn’t want to take him to 2008 Olympics.
Nike advised the superstar to change his behavior to be included in the team. The team defeated Spain and James got a gold medal. He received his second one in London Olympics.
He has won MVP award four times
James was in 2003’s overall draft pick. He was among the four players in the draft that made it to the Hall of Fame. LeBron won the Larry O'Brien Trophy in 2012 after winning his first championship and defended the title in 2013.
He was also a four-time recipient of the Most Valuable Player Award for, being among the few basketball players who won the award over three times. It's only Michael Jordan who won the award five times.
He was a 'Beats' shareholder
The company was started by Dr. Dre some years back, and LeBron invested in it. The superstar gave each of his teammates a pair of the headphones during the 2008 Olympics as a marketing strategy.
The world went crazy with the headphones after seeing the 12 basketball players wearing them. Apple bought Beats in 2014 for $3 Billion, and LeBron got the slice of the cake by bagging more than $30 million from the purchase.
Are the facts about LeBron not amazing? At least you now know more about your favorite star.
