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LEBRON WANTS TO BE SPORT’S FIRST BILLIONAIRE: Cavalier outlines business strategy to boost global presence by 2008 Olympics.
*During a press event Monday in Sapporo, Japan, where his Team USA is on a run to capture the 2006 FIBA World Championship, superstar LeBron James of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers informs reporters of his bold plan to become the first athlete to reach the billion dollar mark in earnings.
Believing that real money lies in business ventures well beyond the U.S. borders, James and his new company, LRMR Marketing, are looking to China and Japan as fertile ground for lucrative endeavors.
“I say all the time, and I tell my friends and teammates, that you have to go global. In basketball and business,” James said, adding that he wants to increase his exposure in Asia by Aug. 8, 2008, the opening of the Beijing Olympics. “It is only going to help my business. Once I knew the world games were going to be in Japan, I knew I was going to be on board."
James, who will again represent Team USA in the Beijing Olympics, says he’ll use the time spent in China to foster more business relationships. He’s even taking Mandarin Chinese lessons with the hope of being able to conduct interviews in the language by 2008.
Nike, the company that features James as an endorser, is naturally behind the player’s ambitious goal 100 percent, as the athletic giant would ultimately benefit from the increased exposure of its star athlete. In fact, it was Nike that organized the press conference, strategically held on an afternoon when Team USA was off and no media access was granted to players, thereby avoiding any distraction.
Nike designed a new campaign for the world championship dubbed “The Ambassadors,” featuring James, Argentina's Manu Ginobili, Spain's Pau Gasol, France's Tony Parker, Germany's Dirk Nowitzki and the next potential Asian star, Yi Jianlian of China. Other campaigns have been directed specifically to the Chinese, including an initial launch of just 1,000 pairs of a special edition James shoe last winter that had teenagers lining up at stores like the character Turtle on Sunday’s episode of HBO’s “Entourage.
“There is a craving (in Asia) for basketball. You can see it in people's eyes," Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski said, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. “You get that atmosphere with that populous. I see this being the global sport eventually.”.jpg)
