LeBron James was brought to tears after turning down a life-changing offer from Rebook ahead of his rookie year in the NBA.
On the latest episode of the New Heights podcast, King James joined fellow Northeast Ohio natives and NFL stars Travis and Jason Kelce.
Having been one of the biggest names on Nike’s roster of athletes, James revealed that his partnership with the Oregon-based sports apparel powerhouse was not set from the get-go.
‘It was not always Nike. Nike when I was a young kid. Obviously, I’ve been in love with Michael Jordan my whole life,’ James shared when Travis asked about the pairing. ‘As a kid, growing up, it was always Nike.’
‘Once I got into the AAU program and started playing program, Adidas took us over,’ he continued. ‘It was Adidas from 7th, 8th grade to, pretty much, my junior, senior year. They just sponsored us every year. We played in all the Adidas tournaments.
‘And then, my senior year, the process began; the recruitments, the Nike’s came and the Adidas were still there, Rebook came in, And1, all these companies came in and I took on three pitches – the Adidas pitch, I did a Rebook pitch, and a Nike pitch.’
LeBron James revealed how close he was to signing with Rebook before entering the NBA
‘The best pitch that I got, where I thought I was gonna end up, was actually rebook at one point.’
The four-time NBA champion then revealed how his first pitch meeting with Reebok left him crying on the way home after turning down a $10million offer.
‘I went to their meeting, sat down across from their CEO and the guys that was running basketball. At the time, Rebook had the NFL as well. They knew my love for football so they had all NFL jerseys, the Pro-Bowl-looking jerseys [on display].’
‘The guy slides over a check to me at the end of the table, it’s me and my mom and Maverick Carter, and he says, ‘If you don’t go talk to any other companies, this is yours.’
‘And I looked at it,’ he continued before pausing. ‘Ten million f***ing dollars.’
James and the Kelces had uniform reactions – reminiscing about seeing their first contract offers as athletes. The NBA’s all-time leading scorer then praised his mom’s sound advice during the meeting.
James was offered $10million in his first pitch meeting with Rebook, but decided against it
James signed a record-breaking $87m contract to wear checked shoes on the NBA court
In 2015, the four-time NBA champion signed a lifetime deal with Nike worth $1billion
‘I was a high school senior man, I told them I need a break, they stepped out,’ James shared. ‘My mom looked at it, and me and my mom were living in an apartment, section-A housing in Akron.
‘My mom looked at me, she said, ‘Son, trust your gut. If they’re offering you this, then who knows what the other companies may offer you.’
‘So they came back in, I said, ‘Thank you, I would definitely like to continue our conversation but I would be remised if I don’t take those other pitches.’ I may have cried on my way home.
‘It was like, ‘I could have bought the building that me and my mom was living in with that goddamn money.”
The decision paid off as James signed a record-breaking $87m contract to wear checked shoes on the NBA court. In 2015, he signed a lifetime deal with Nike worth $1billion.
James and Nike have produced 22 LeBron signature shoes throughout their partnership.
