Sports PR and Lebron James

  Lebron James is undoubtedly the biggest NBA star of his generation.  According to Forbes he is on track to become the first billionaire athlete .  His endorsements with companies such as Nike and McDonald's and Sprite have all been record setting contracts for any athlete.  Lebron James has made great business decisions for him and his brand.  As far as ethical decisions or good PR decisions not so much. 

LeBron went from being the most loved superstar to the most hated athlete overnight with "the Decision" almost 2 years ago.  Lebron James publicly   announced on national TV through an ESPN special that he would be leaving his former team the Cleavland Cavilers for the Miami Heat.  The move not only disappointed and shocked the fans of Cleavland but disappointed allot of basketball fans that felt the move was a cop out.  Lebron James the self proclaimed "King" and "Chosen One" left Cleavland where he was the man, to join Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh two Olympic Gold Medalists in South Beach Miami.

Though the decision was poor in taste alot of good came from the media spectacle.  Over 2 million dollars was donated to the Boys and Girls clubs of America.  People rarely even mention this charitable donation because it's over shadowed by the lack of taste and utter shock value.  Forbes documented exactly how charitable 'the decision' was here http://www.forbes.com/sites/sportsmoney/2011/06/16/the-demonization-of-lebron-james/2.    But, just when you think he would have learned form making such controversial PR moves the not so PR savy athlete strikes again.    On Thursday February 9th before a game where he and the Miami Heat where set to play Cleavland, Lebron James said this " I had a lot of fun times [in Cleveland]. ... I'm here as a Miami player and I'm happy where I am now but I don't rule [a return] out in any sense. If I decide to come back, hopefully the fans will accept me."

 Not only was Lebron James throwing salt on an open wounds of Cleavland fans, but the attempt to regain fans in Cleavland may have also caused him to lose the trust of fans in his new city as well.  People already think that he is a selfish athlete that only cares about himself and his brand now he is already telling the Miami Heats that they can get there hearts broken too.  Lebron James should be concentrated on and fully committed to the Miami Heat. Not only that but to he should be committed to winning the championship that has eluded him for 9 years.  If Lebron James was worried more about winning a championship than what people think of him maybe he would have won one already.
Lebron James needs to be more thoughtful in his remarks his attempt to regain old fans could have cost him his current fans.  Time heals all wounds I think that he should have just let it go.  He should have just stopped at "Im here as a Miami heat player I'm happy where I am now."  You can read more about the comments of Lebron James below.


 http://espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/story/_/id/7582491/lebron-james-miami-heat-rule-return-cleveland-cavaliers