OPEN LETTER TO LeBRON/NIKE COMMERCIAL

Dear LeBron James,

I’ve just had an opportunity to view your new Nike commercial nicknamed “What Should I Do?”  It was very well produced and slickly entertaining.  So kudos to the marketing executives of Nike for such creativity in the concept.

But for a basketball fan such as myself, a nicely produced commercial does not give me amnesia.  It does not make me forget the unbelievably bad advice you received from your “friends” whom you let control your business affairs, which led to perhaps the most botched free agency in NBA history.  It does not make me forget how you held the league hostage, and watched as teams traded away picks and valuable assets in hopes of bringing all of your greatness to their city — when you had already made up your mind long ago that NONE of these teams had a chance in hell and your decision had long been made.  It does not make me forget the self-serving and supposedly suspenseful televised announcement you made right in the backyard of New York Knicks fans, who have been desperate for a franchise leader since Patrick Ewing a decade ago.  It does not make me forget the understandable pain Cleveland and their fans must have felt, when you brushed aside their potential embarrassment in favor of your own selfish needs, and “broke up” with them on national television — all without the courtesy of a private phone call.

So congratulations to you LeBron James — you had it all “your way.”  You enjoyed the “game” of free agency.  You enjoyed having teams fly to YOU, in YOUR city and on YOUR terms, spending millions in the process on marketing and proposals.  You enjoyed having a dozen suitors beg for your hand in marriage, all the while knowing in the back of your mind your choice had already been made.  You made your choice, hurting teams, fans, careers, and feelings in the process.  But feelings be damned!  You did it “your way.”  And now you and Nike would like us all to have amnesia, to forget not only what you did, but how you did it, and magically love you again — oh, and buy your products again too.

You had every right to make every choice you made.  But since that road goes two ways, we fans have every right not to like it.

I realize I am just one person.  I realize that you may not care one iota about my opinion or what I may feel.  I realize that you owe me nothing.  But I did not like what you did.  I did not like how you did it.  So this ONE former fan is not willing to give you a free pass and forget your actions from 3 short months ago, just because you and Nike want me to for your own financial best interest. You see, I do not have amnesia and I don’t plan on getting it anytime soon.

You asked in your commercial “What Should I Do?”  My suggestion would be to use this as a learning and growing experience, to accept responsibility over your actions and methods, and to understand that as Lebron the “business,” your actions are not just personal but affect others than just yourself.  You may never learn these lessons.  In fact, your “friend” advisers may already be telling you that you never should, since it’s all and only about “you.”  But until you do, you have lost this ONE person as a fan, supporter, and purchaser of your products.  And the most interesting part is, I am not alone.  You’ll see!

– A former fan