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LeBron James, it was worth the wait

New Sport Side

LeBron James, it was worth the wait  New Sport Side

According to the Oxford Dictionary, a "game changer" as "an event, idea, a process that causes a significant shift in the way we do or think of something." If there is one definition that objectively can be attributed to LeBron James, it is to have been a game changer - and in more than one way - to the NBA. Beyond any consideration of merit on his game, on his domain, LeBron James has introduced on the floor of the prototype player that can play in any position, the extreme version of the all american, the future. But not only. LeBron James was the second media meteorite that hit the Earth after Michael Jordan.

Even before arriving in NBA LBJ was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, had a million dollar contract with Nike and decided to call herself Choosed One. Name that would soon given way to King James. The King then took Nike and the NBA and carried them into the third millennium, the era of the app, the ad-films and social networks, the super-light sneakers and hyper-realistic video games. And then there's Cleveland, the most unlucky cities of America, which has never won a title in any of the major American sports. Northeast Ohio, including cement and economic recession. But everything changed on Sunday when the Prodigal Son has fulfilled his promise, finally putting on the map Believeland and devoting themselves to history.

Going back to James. If you leave aside for a moment the incredible sports scores, you can trace the contours of all that James has meant to the world NBA and sportswear from the point of view of media and commercial, as well as his little tics, obsessions and special rites superstitious that belong only to him.

 

Nike revolution

The MJ "replacement" comes from Akron, knows what to do with his body, of his talent and even more of his image. Nike and LeBron signed a lifetime contract, tying his fortunes and his incredible control over private life and public opinion. Bron rarely misses a shot, even managing the most intricate situations (when Kanye attacked Jordan brand, he limited to a "Nike is family"). For many born in 2000, the Nike LeBron represented the ne plus ultra applied to the basket sneaker, what Jordan had in '90 with the explosion of pop culture. 13 editions of his signature, various variations on colors and themes.

 

Band yes / band no

The predominant stylized image of LeBron James is the one that sees him with clamp and "compressor sleeve" (the "sleeve", for instance). The latter, already introduced by Allen Iverson and also worn by Kobe Bryant, it is constantly - and incrementally - among the best selling accessories in store NBA. Same fate, indeed far more rooted in tradition, the band touched with sweat. Just the band was at the center of a small plot which involved the face of the League, Bron, when he stopped wearing it. In summary: the band was making him losing hair? For some yes, for Lebron himself instead disuse was preparatory to the strengthening of the team spirit, "in the Cavs no one longer wears the collar, so I decided to take it off, too, not to seem different from the others in any way."

 

Zero-Dark Thirty

LeBron James is an absolute ace in self-build the epic of his figure. By his nicknames - which was given alone - some of the attitudes in the field (the chalk toss that he used to do in his first life in Cleveland) and out, "The Decision" and "I'm Coming Back Home" throughout , what LeBron does is minutely calculated to the millimeter. Maybe Sunday's Tears have been the first sign of candida humanity of a man who had to carry on their shoulders a state whole. Auto pressure, such as that which you put before each Playoffs (and LeBron is ALWAYS went to the playoffs) by excluding from the company in what he calls mode Zero Dark Thirty, the film inspired by the mission that led to the killing of Osama Bin Laden.

 

 

Hulk move

No one had ever come back from a 1-3 during the Finals. No one had ever won three in a row, in an achievement that will go down in the history of sport rather than basketball. An achievement that smells of pride, an overweening pride, fielded by LeBron for his city, but not only ... During the last few games the Cavs have worn the third jersey, the black alternate, which has the characteristic of being part of the batch of t-shirts with sleeves that they had brought him much criticism. Even the same LeBron seemed contrary, it was said that the sleeves keep him from the movements and the Hulk scene torning sleeve he showed it. And yet Lebron has requested that the last games were played with that mesh. Why? Because that mesh symbolize the pride, the pride of a city that has managed to never give up. LeBron was right and who knows that this will stop the process of hate towards short-sleeved shirts, now that Nike is going to recover the NBA.

 

All Hail The King

Cleveland in recent weeks was studded with banners, reciting all the same: Believe. Believe in Love, JR Smith, in Irving and obviously Believe in LeBron James. The next morning the Cavs to victory, Nike aired a spot where the whole city held its breath, and then explode the stubble of Bron, his shooting from three, to its rebound. Emotion. It was just the latest in a series of commercials that have always seen starring Bron, the best in front of the camera, for detachment, in this league. We saw him bring along an entire city on his shoulders, Together, the Nike commercial for his return, work hard in the gym to the Beats, to do no more than allow his city to shine. And who knows how many others. The epic Lebron goes mainly from the screen, the screen that is able to break up with the sincere smile of one "who should not even be here."

Yet there is, all witnesses.