For more than 20 years, LeBron James has been the face of Nike’s basketball division, signing a lifetime deal with the brand in 2015 worth more than $1 billion.
But that future would have changed a lot if James had chosen to partner with Reebok instead of Nike in the past. When he first debuted in the NBA, James was pursued by many shoe brands. And Reebok almost got the signature of “The King” with a $ 100 million contract.
How did LeBron James almost end up in Reebok’s hands?
Back in the early days of his career, James was already a phenomenon in the American basketball world before he even entered the NBA. Therefore, he was the name that every sportswear brand at that time wanted to approach and sign a contract with.
Though he ultimately chose The Swoosh, speaking with NFL brothers Travis and Jason Kelce on the New Heights podcast, James admitted that he was almost convinced by Reebok, when they offered him $100 million.
“It wasn’t always Nike, I had three negotiations,” James said. “I did one for Adidas, one for Reebok, and one for Nike. And the best offer I got was from Reebok. I went to the meeting, sat across from their CEO — I was a senior in high school, and I was going back to Saint Vincent-Saint Mary the next day after my senior year.
“The guy sitting at the end of the table handed me a check, with me, my mom, Maverick Carter, and [Reebok CEO Paul Fireman] in it and said, ‘If you don’t go talk to other companies, it’s yours. ‘
“I looked at it – it was $10 million. My mom looked at me, she said, ‘Son, trust your instincts, if they’re offering you this, who knows what other companies might offer you.’ When they came back, I said ‘Thank you, I definitely want to continue this conversation, but it would be remiss of me to skip other talks,'” James added.
In 2022, current Reebok CEO Todd Krinsky also revealed the offer Reebok made to James. According to Krinsky, the brand’s former boss – Fireman, had a gift for creating drama, which contributed to their great offer.
“Paul is a big actor,” Krinsky told the Complex Sneakers Show. “He’s the best salesman in the world. We made an offer to LeBron right then, late at night, we’d been there all day. Paul made an offer of about $90 million, and then he stood up. He walked around the table behind LeBron’s family, and we were like, ‘What is he doing?’
Then, all of a sudden, he asked Gloria, LeBron’s mother, ‘What’s the name of your bank?’. “She said ‘Akron Trust,’ and he said ‘Okay,’ and pulled out a check and said, ‘This is a valid check, not part of the contract, this is a check for $10 million.’ I sat across from him and saw the check in front of me, and he said, ‘If LeBron signs with us tonight, you can bring this check back to Akron Trust first thing in the morning.’ At that point, we were all like, ‘Oh my gosh, what is he doing?'”
Reebok’s offer was so convincing that even James’ first agent, Aaron Goodwin, thought they had the signature of the future four-time MVP.
“I thought he was going to go with Reebok,” Goodwin said in 2003. “When we walked out of the room, LeBron said, ‘Hey, I feel comfortable going with them.’ But three hours later, he went with Nike.” Even though Reebok offered a higher price, James decided to go with Nike because of its long-term vision and brand reputation.
Two decades later, James became one of the greatest players in basketball history, and he has worn Nike shoes throughout his career.
