In order to sign James, hundreds of employees of Nike spent several months working out a plan together. Morris, then a senior sneaker designer in Nike's basketball department, said that this was the most ambitious bidding plan he had ever seen.
As he recalled, phil knight, CEO of Nike, used his new office, which he had not moved into, as a showcase for recruiting James. On the big screen, there will be a special welcome speech specially designed for James, and at the other end of a long corridor, Nike's star products such as Michael Jordan, Buckley, Pippen and Penny will be displayed.
Morris recalled: "You can see that all these sneakers were led to a display box in the center of the end with a spotlight on it, but there was nothing in it." The box is empty, as if to say,' Your superman suit is waiting for you-if you are ready.' "
The left side of the display box area leads to a conference room, which contains a series of products with LeBron's exclusive trademark, including but not limited to basketball, backpacks, sunglasses, towels, shorts, bathrobes and swimsuits. "They made exclusive underwear for this guy," Morris sighed with emotion. "I didn't even know we made underwear."
It is worth mentioning that in order to leave the best impression on James, Nike even found out James' favorite cereal brand. If James needs to take a break and enjoy snacks, Nike will take out his favorite fruit pebble cereal. Morris said they wouldn't miss any details. They speculated that anything James might think of must be made sure that James could use or experience it.
In the room on the right side of the exhibition area, there are James' Hummer H2, color models of lion fur series, and many sketches of exclusive combat boots designed by Nike's top sports shoes designers. "That is definitely the best exhibition I have ever seen." Goodwin, then James' agent, commented.
In the end, James was moved by Nike's strength and sincerity and chose to join hands with it. Just being elected as the No.1 scholar, James couldn't wait to put on Nike's full set of equipment when interviewed live on TV. When James made his debut in the NBA regular season in June 2003, he had already put on his signature combat boots and started his legendary journey.
15 years later, the empty display box was filled by James. Its brilliant light symbolizes the highest commercial value that contemporary stars can have.