LeBron James, Nike man, tries the dunk in Lakers vs Nets (photo Ansa)
LOS ANGELES – You can be one of the strongest players of all time in the NBA but if you have a lifetime contract with Nike you are not free to change your shirt number. LeBron James would have liked to leave his number 23 to the Lakers' new signing Anthony Davis, as he had promised privately, to return to the number 6 he wore at the time of the Miami Heat but could not do so because Nike vetoed it.
According to the rules of the NBA, the players under contract, and LeBron is among them, had until March 15 to communicate the choice of the singlet number, which would then be sent into production by the technical sponsor, Nike. The negotiations to bring Davis to the Lakers, took off after this date so LeBron decided to change number after the fifteenth of March.
The NBA was ready to make an exception to the rule because the request came from a legend like LeBron James but Nike was categorical and immediately refused the request of the Lakers champion.
Nike, LeBron James cannot change numbers. Here because.
LeBron James is not just a player, he is a multinational. He is one of the three global players who has a million dollar contract for life with Nike (the other two are the other basketball legend Michael Jordan and Juventus player Cristiano Ronaldo).
LJ23 (LeBron James 23) is a brand like CR7 (Cristiano Ronaldo 7). The LeBron James tank top is the best-selling of the NBA, several thousand gaming uniforms have already been produced by the champion of the Los Angeles Lakers: withdrawing them from the market to issue the new tank top with the new number would have involved damage of several tens of thousands of dollars.
LeBron James will be forced to continue playing with the number 23 while the new signing of the Lakers Anthony Davis will have to settle for number 3.
The Nike article forces LeBron James not to change the number of tank tops, which is why it seems to be the first on daily Blitz .
Source: Blitz Quotidiano