When you’re one of biggest and brightest sports figures on the planet, it becomes difficult to totally and utterly fail. Most athletes will make a regretful decision during their careers that disappoints the public, but that mistake usually loses its harmfulness in time. Most athletes, but not all, generally find ways back into the arms of forgiveness of fans and companies. Look at Tiger Woods for example, a legendary hero for millions across the globe, including myself, openly admits to scandalous and irreprehensible behavior on countless occasions that made most people nauseous. Yet, Tiger is still one of the most marketable and profitable athletes in the world as a result of his name alone. How is this possible? There comes a point when a name or brand becomes too impenetrable to collapse. Tiger is needed in the game of golf; he was, and still is, the driving force behind the globalization of the sport. If he wasn’t, if his name didn’t hold the immeasurable amount of weight it does, he would’ve been cast out long ago.
I recall Tiger’s story to display how an athlete can become nearly invincible due to the power they command in name alone. His story demonstrates how a severely flawed hero, can manage to keep cult status throughout his career despite incomprehensible mistakes. What if there was an athlete that rivaled Tiger Woods popularity and marketing prowess, but without the dark past or pungent behavior. Imagine that freight train moving full-steam ahead, with no troubles in sight.
LeBron James is that freight train, and after his part in “Trainwreck,” seems intent on taking his talents to the theaters. Yes, that mediocre pun was intended, forgive me. His company, SpringHill Entertainment, has reached an agreement with Warner Bros for future multimedia projects. I’m not the only that thinks Lebron’s brand is booming. Warner Bros CEO, Kevin Tsuijhara, commented on Lebron’s popularity by saying “LeBron James has one of the most powerful, well-known brands in the world.”
A rumor has floated around that a “Space Jam” sequel starring Lebron could be in the works. As you may recall, and if you don’t I feel sorry for you, the original Space Jam was a 1996 animated classic starring Michael Jordan and members of the Looney Toons. Not to be forgotten, national treasure Bill Murray graced the movie as well. The film follows the Looney Toons in a journey to defeat the “Monstars” with the help of Michael Jordan and other NBA players.
The movie was a success, earning over 230 million dollars at the box office. The endearing story led to kids clothing, and numerous toys. At that time, Michael Jordan could do no wrong, his marketing appeal was skyrocketing tenfold as his career went on. Space Jam even gave a nod to MJ’s corporate sponsors at the time when a characters tells MJ “"C'mon, Michael, its game time. Slip on your Hanes, lace up your Nikes, take your Wheaties and your Gatorade, and we'll grab a Big Mac on the way to the ballpark." That is a smorgasbord of marketing material dropped right smack dab into the middle of a movie. MJ was quite literally a walking advertisement for these companies and the NBA. He was damn good too.
In a cinematography sense this wouldn’t look great, but Lebron could have a scene in Space Jam 2 where he’s warming up against the Monstars with a Powerade in one hand, Sprite in the other, half of a Big Mac stuffed in his mouth, Beats by Dre headphones over his ear connected to his Samsung tablet, and Nike apparel from head to toe. Lebron is smart, and he wants his marketing interests to compound over time. There is truly no ceiling, thanks to his new partnership, control over the NBA’s news cycle, and his low propensity to create controversy in his personal life. He is the safest choice for the NBA, and other for-profit organizations around the world because he simply won’t mess up.
Lebron has the NBA by its throat, and the NBA is totally complacent with that. The storylines of the NBA revolve around his triumphs or failures as a player. When he loses in the NBA Finals, next season is all about HIS redemption. If he wins, it is all about HIS chase for Kobe or MJ. When he hits free agency, the entire NBA is put on hold until he makes a decision. He asserts more control over the NBA, than the NBA does over him. Can you blame the NBA for riding the coattails of their superstars?
There are many great sports figures that encapsulate their sport, the difference between Lebron, and many others, is that he seems like a genuinely wholesome person. He doesn’t cheat, lie, steal, or put himself in questionable situations. Sure, many feel like he took a shortcut to success by joining two other All-NBA studs in Miami for a championship run, but even then he wasn’t committing an egregious act in retrospect. Heck, everyone is doing it nowadays, we could crucify Kevin Love for denying his first-option potential by staying put with the Cavaliers, or Paul Pierce for ring-chasing at the end of his career. If creating two “super teams” is the worst thing we can pin on a guy, he is making out all right for his brand name.
Unlike fellow icons Tom Brady, Alex Rodriguez, Lance Armstrong, and even Kobe Bryant, there is no dirt to be found on Lebron. Even if there was, would it matter? Probably not, he has reached the mountain top of marketing immortality. Some may not like the way he plays, I am certainly not a big fan of his, but as a businessman and a person, it is difficult to deny that he has reached cult status in the modern world.
If you can be called by one name alone, and be recognized in most parts of the world, you’ve really made it. I can only hope one day, the name “Eric”, will be obsolete because I will have become popular enough that only I will be recognizable by that name. A man can dream, right? Regardless, the NBA and now Warner Bros. can invest and associate with Lebron’s brand because it is untarnished and impenetrable. I doubt it will ever warrant a scratch or ding. It is too big to fail.