Mark Duncan / Associated Press
LeBron will "just do it" for Nike for life.
The footwear giant has "agreed to a lifetime relationship with LeBron," it announced today — a deal that is believed to be the first lifetime deal that Nike has ever signed with an athlete.
James' relationship with Nike started almost as soon as his high school basketball career ended. His first deal, signed in May 2003, was for seven years and over $90 million, according to CNBC. He then re-upped in 2010 for an undisclosed amount.
News of the deal was first reported by ESPN, which said, citing an anonymous source, that LeBron's new deal "easily surpasses" Kevin Durant's $300 million deal that goes over 10 years.
"We have already built a strong LeBron business over the past 12 years, and we see the potential for this to continue to grow throughout his playing career and beyond," Nike said in a statement.
Such a deal would put LeBron into similar territory as Nike's biggest endorser, Michael Jordan, who has a net worth over just more than $1 billion according to Forbes. And Nike gets even more from the retired superstar — the company said in an October investor conference that it expects its full year revenue from Jordan-branded products to "double to $4.5 billion by 2020," meaning it's generating over $2 billion in revenue now.
In a recent lawsuit against a Chicago-area grocery chain, Jordan's attorneys revealed Nike had paid him $480 million between 2000 and 2012. Jordan played his final NBA game in April 2003.
While this is believed to be NIke's first lifetime deal, the company disclosed few details of its relationships with other athletes. Its archrival Adidas has signed several "lifetime" deals with athletes, including the Chicago Bulls' injury-plagued point guard Derrick Rose and injury-plagued shooting guard Tracy McGrady in 2002.
"When it comes to partners, I would take Nike's roster of athletes any day," Nike chief executive Mark Parker said during the company's October investor conference. "From the ones that we all know that need no introduction, LeBron and Kobe and KD, Cristiano, and Neymar, Serena, Roger, and Rory, to the next generation of stars like Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, Robert Lewandowski, Alex Morgan, Odell Beckham Jr., Mike Trout, [and] Jewell Loyd."
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