11/21/24
October 25, 2010
LeBron James' New Nike Commercial: 'Should I Be Who You Want Me To Be?' : LeBron James turned the negative feedback he received from his decision to sign with the Miami Heat into the theme of his new Nike commercial.
posted by BornIcon to basketball at 05:59 PM - 22 comments
/signs NoMich's petition
posted by tron7 at 06:24 PM on October 25, 2010
Yeah, I'll have to wait to see what mileage Nike gets out of a 6' 8" dick wearing sneakers.
Wait, how do you get 2 sneakers onto 1 dick?
posted by cixelsyd at 07:35 PM on October 25, 2010
I don't want LeBron to be anything.
Just quit making a spectacle of himself, and get professional help for some of those issues. Shut down the nonsense, pack a lunch and go play ball.
The Heat amigos should watch film of the Alcindor Milwaukee Bucks team at the height of their powers. Downright scary force of nature that the Three Kings of Miami will never be.
posted by beaverboard at 08:04 PM on October 25, 2010
Whatever helps you to sleep, dude.
posted by geekyguy at 09:06 PM on October 25, 2010
God, LeBron, quit worrying so damn much about how everyone feels about you. Everyone knows you only want to be liked because it makes you more money, and money is definitely all Nike cares about with regards to you. If you really wanted to be liked, you would have stayed in Cleveland. Shut the hell up and play basketball.
Wait, how do you get 2 sneakers onto 1 dick?
Damn good question.
posted by dyams at 09:28 PM on October 25, 2010
Wait, how do you get 2 sneakers onto 1 dick?
Depends. Are the balls still attached?
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 09:32 PM on October 25, 2010
This line was classic: "They're my friends."
Exactly LBJ, friends, NOT top tier pro sports agents. Just admit you took some bad advice & treated your previous team's fans poorly. They bought tickets, your merch etc, which helped you become wealthy. They helped build your empire, at least leave gracefully. I'm just amazed that this is so hard to understand. I think he just doesn't want to own that this wasn't done well.
And I love that he's forgetting how he fed the media mixed signals, trying to build the hype for his free-agent choice for YEARS. I get that the media sucks, but there is a really simple way to cut much of the crap they spin off-just be up front on what you're thinking, not 2+ years of innuendo & media baiting, & then go "poor me" when people feel like you are being disengenuous.
posted by brainofdtrain at 09:56 PM on October 25, 2010
LeBron keeps getting ripped even when he makes an extremly valid point in this commerical (which by the way is awesome!) It's not about what anyone else thinks, it's about LeBron and what makes him happy. We could all only be so lucky.
By the way, notice the (not-so)subtle jabs at MJ and Barkely.
posted by BornIcon at 10:55 AM on October 26, 2010
posted by yerfatma at 11:30 AM on October 26, 2010
He should let Nike script every word out of his mouth. They are better at this game than he is.
posted by bperk at 12:19 PM on October 26, 2010
Are the balls still attached
The last 2 years playoff performances would indicate not.
posted by cixelsyd at 12:20 PM on October 26, 2010
LeBron keeps getting ripped even when he makes an extremly valid point in this commerical (which by the way is awesome!) It's not about what anyone else thinks, it's about LeBron and what makes him happy. We could all only be so lucky.
If he's so happy with himself and his situation, he needs to stop shoving his bullshit down everyone's throats.
The guy made his decision, so move on and play basketball. He used to be a beloved figure, now he is not. That's the way it goes. If the guy is so stupid that he couldn't see how his recent decisions, and how he chose to make them public, would rub practically everyone outside of Miami the wrong way, then he should be damn glad he's a basketball star, because if he had to use those same brains to make it in the real world, he'd be shit-out-of-luck.
posted by dyams at 12:20 PM on October 26, 2010
LeBron keeps getting ripped even when he makes an extremly valid point in this commerical (which by the way is awesome!) It's not about what anyone else thinks, it's about LeBron and what makes him happy.
You make it sound as if LeBron wrote the ad. Like Tiger Woods allowing Nike to use the voice of his dead father and his extramarital affairs to sell shoes, LeBron is allowing Nike to use the damage to his reputation to sell shoes. There's no there there. It's just canny marketing.
posted by rcade at 12:36 PM on October 26, 2010
You make it sound as if LeBron wrote the ad.
I didn't say he did but that doesn't change it from still being a valid point and one of the best Nike commercials I've seen since MJ's first Nike commercial. What exactly has LeBron done that he's being villified? What crimes has he ever commited? All he did was play out his contract with Cleveland, became a free agent and chose to play somewhere else.
There are so many professional athletes that get arrested and actually commit crimes but LeBron chooses to leave Cleveland for Miami on national televsion that also so happens to raise money for the Boys and Girls club (which people seem to forget but since this is LeBron, of course it was all a sham) and he's being treated like the worst person alive.
Before the Decision, he was beloved but now he's somehow this awful person yet Ben Roethlisberger get a standing ovation after coming back to play from his suspension for his role in a police investigation after being accused of sexual harrassment?!
Whatever you selling, I ain't buying.
posted by BornIcon at 12:52 PM on October 26, 2010
All he did was play out his contract with Cleveland, became a free agent and chose to play somewhere else.
If that was all he did, he wouldn't be considered one of sport's biggest douchebags. But you know that already. LeBron earned his reputation with an enormously bad Decision, and he's kept it going by refusing to simply shut up and focus on basketball.
Tonight we'll see the one thing he can do to genuinely improve his image: play good basketball. Anything else he does to get attention will just make him seem more self-fascinated.
As an aside, when I got back to my car after the Rangers/Rays game 5 in St. Pete, there was a postcard on my car from LeBron James. He was inviting me and all the other fans to one of those nightclub events where people pay lots of money to gladhand him.
Quality use of your time, King James!
posted by rcade at 01:04 PM on October 26, 2010
Lebron's fall from grace was directly proportional to how high his pedestal was before. The media makes you a king because you play basketball very well. The media makes you a villain when you make an ass of yourself. Those are the breaks.
posted by bperk at 01:14 PM on October 26, 2010
It's just canny marketing.
But the kids (and the apologists) will eat it up, unknowing that James just showed up and read lines, oblivious that this was just a promotion by a company that has millions of dollars riding on James.
posted by justgary at 04:06 PM on October 26, 2010
My favorite overmarketed basketball star was Penny Hardaway, thanks to Little Penny. "Hey, Tyra -- you left your toothbrush at my house!"
posted by rcade at 04:11 PM on October 26, 2010
He should let Nike script every word out of his mouth. They are better at this game than he is.
He has up until this summer. As much as I wish Lebron would stop being an ass, he's definitely more interesting without his Nike brand word filter.
Why did Nike let him do "The Decision" anyway?
posted by tron7 at 05:23 PM on October 26, 2010
That's where the double edged sword comes into play. If LeBron was always PC, people would want him to speak his mind but since he's been unfiltered, people want him to shut up. He's actually been more interesting and people seem to have an opinion about him whether good or bad. That still doesn't take away that he is a great basketball player who wants to win by any means necessary and he's doing it the way he chose and with the team he chose to play for.
posted by BornIcon at 06:14 PM on October 26, 2010
Great commercial.
posted by boredom_08 at 06:24 PM on October 26, 2010
Dear LeBron, I just don't want you to be a dick. How you announced your decision to move on to the Miami Heat was a rather dickish thing to do.
Lurve,
Me