Cavaliers F LeBron James appeared on UNINTERRUPTED's "Kneading Dough" podcast with his agent, LRMR Management Founder Maverick Carter, to discuss signing his first shoe deal. Carter, who hosts the podcast, said the two visited Reebok, where Reebok Founder Paul Fireman offered James $10M "today if you don't go see" Nike and Adidas. Carter told James, "He wrote you a $10 million check in that room and you turned it down. I can't say I would have turned it down." James said Fireman told him, "If you take this right now just promise you won't go talk to Nike or Adidas." James said, "I was at a loss for words at the beginning. I flew in from Akron, Ohio, from the projects. Our rent was like $17 a month and now I'm looking at a $10 million check ... so I'm like, 'Holy shit!' That's my first initial thing and then for some odd reason I started thinking like, 'If this guy -- he's a great guy too, still love him to this (day), he's an unbelievable guy -- is willing to give me $20 or $30 million upfront." James said, "We always said, 'We're going to hear all three companies and what they have to say, what's their plan.' But I still can't believe I left that $10 million" ("Kneading Dough," UNINTERRUPTED.com, 4/26).
