Nike has released a new minute-long ad starring Cavaliers F LeBron James ahead of the start of the NBA campaign titled "Welcome to Season 15," a reference to this being James' 15th year in the league, according to Tiffany Patterson of WOIO-CBS. The ad begins with James, who was named the most marketable player in the NBA, "walking down a corridor of Quicken Loans Arena before flashing to snippets of an erupting volcano, a lion" and an Instagram video of James working out following the Cavaliers' loss to the Warriors in the '17 NBA Finals (CLEVELAND19.com, 10/16). James is shown at the start of the ad "wearing sunglasses, accompanied by a narrator saying, 'Oh no, no, no. Why'd they go and poke the bear?'" The narrator ends the ad saying, "I'd feel sorry for them if it wasn't going to be so damn fun to watch" (SI.com, 10/16). Meanwhile, in Cleveland, Joey Morona reported Nike last night opened a pop-up store near Quicken Loans Arena in which James' new signature shoe the LeBron 15s "will be available in three colorways: Ghost, Ashes and Pride of Ohio." The shoes, which retail for $185, look "unlike any other shoe James has released before," as it uses a "new version of Nike's Flyknit technology that's becoming a popular feature on the brand's running shoes." The Ghost shoes are "essentially beige," while the Ashes version "features black and gray." The Pride of Ohio "comes in a rose gold/black color scheme that pairs nicely with the Cavs' wine and gold colors." The store will be open through Sunday, and fans also can "purchase Nike's new Cavaliers jerseys with James' No. 23 on it and T-shirts" (CLEVELAND.com, 10/16).
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE: James appears on the November cover of GQ, and the magazine's Mark Anthony Green in the accompanying article notes James is a "broad constructionist on the athlete-greatness front." James the basketball player still is "front and center," but there is a "deep understanding of the way this life of his is going to work for decades to come -- that one day basketball will run out, and it will be on to Phase II." That is why James "spends his off-season cramming his days laying groundwork for what comes next, expanding the universe of LeBron Inc." James is "deadly serious about his universe of extra-basketball enterprises." He is aware of the "critical importance of Phase II for taking the fame, the exposure, and the influence that he has garnered and cultivated in basketball, and amplifying it to any number of ends" (GQ, 11/ '17 issue).
