The Cleveland Cavaliers all-star forward from Akron, Ohio is one of the biggest names in the history of sports. LeBron James has essentially secured his place as one of the top five players in NBA history, and his success has flourished off the court as well.
In December 2015, LeBron James signed a lifetime deal with Nike for an undisclosed amount. Nike had never offered a lifetime deal to an athlete before, and Sam Amick of USA TODAY Sports even suggested that the preliminary estimates of $400-500 million were low.
RELATED: LeBron James Signs Lifetime Deal With Nike
On LeBron-Nike deal front, I'm told by person w/ knowledge of financials that estimates of between $400 & $500 million are significantly low
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) December 8, 2015
Apparently, the deal is worth more than DOUBLE that! James’ deal with Nike is worth more than $1 billion.
Mark Anthony Green of GQ explained how LeBron’s business partner Maverick Carter, James, and Nike got the billion dollar deal done.
You have to go into the room understanding a couple things. You have to know what you want. You have to know how to clearly articulate those things. You have to know what’s important to the other side and what they want. Be able to articulate those things, too. And then you have to be willing to not take everything. If you go into the negotiation like, I’m gonna get every dollar, every piece of real estate—I’m just gonna take this guy’s fucking pants off—you may be able to do that once, maybe twice, but after that, people aren’t going to want to do business with you. When you’re negotiating something like the Nike deal, it’s gonna last a lifetime, literally. The minute this negotiation’s over, we’re gonna work with these people every day. So you don’t want to leave them with a bad feeling.
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Here’s the part of the Q&A where with Green where Carter essentially reveals how much James’ deal is worth.
How much was the deal for?
I can’t say.Come on, Mav! Can you ballpark it?
What are people saying?Kanye said a billion. So a billion.
[Maverick smiles and points one finger skyward.]Holy shit.
Yeah. It’s a fantastic deal. Nike feels great about the deal. That’s the most important thing. As great as I feel, as great as LeBron feels—Nike feels fantastic about it. It’s the largest deal in the history of the company. Their hope is he makes even more. And our hope is that, too, obviously.
Kevin Durant signed a 10-year, $300 million deal with Nike a few years ago, so it’s not surprise that James will be making upwards of $33 million for the next 30 years or so.
For now, James’ sole focus is on the Toronto Raptors and the Eastern Conference Finals.
