Nike Labeling LeBron James the ‘Forever King’ in Latest Commercial Infuriates Fans – “No Greater Form of Delusion”

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James might be about to play the final season of his long and illustrious NBA career.

Nike Labeling LeBron James the ‘Forever King’ in Latest Commercial Infuriates Fans – “No Greater Form of Delusion”

LeBron James has been Nike's biggest basketball superstar (Image via FirstSportz)

Despite the influx of fresh young talent, LeBron James is sneaker giant Nike’s most important basketball ambassador. The Los Angeles Lakers superstar might be near the end of his career, but he still pulls a considerable number of fans to the company.

In recent times, it was expected that Victor Wembanyama, Ja Morant, and now Caitlin Clark would be the ones to help Nike move into a new era of basketball ambassadors.

The Frenchman’s injury this past season did not help matters, and the Grizzlies star’s inconsistent form juxtaposed any potential for high sales. Then there is the WNBA superstar, whose signature shoe will only be available next year.

That leaves Nike to bank on the two veterans, James and Paris Olympics teammate Kevin Durant, for sales. Now, as competition is at an all-time high, rival brands have been signing players who would have otherwise helped Nike continue its recovery.

Since they cannot, and with what could potentially be the 4-time league MVP‘s final season in the league, Nike went all out to create a video hyping the oldest player in the league.

He carried the weight of every expectation on his shoulders. But he never broke. We were all witnesses. Every rival was defeated. Every idol was destroyed. He took the crown and kept it.

Captions in Nike’s latest LeBron James commercial

The conglomerate went on to label the Akron native ‘Forever King’ in this commercial. It was designed with his 22 years of dominance in the league and all that he has accomplished in the face of elite competition in mind.

Fans flame Nike for latest LeBron James commercial

Basketball fans have been watching LeBron James dominate for the past 22 years. At the same time, many are divided on his claims of being the greatest of all time.

Then, for Nike to release their latest commercial focused on adding to that narrative infuriated fans. They felt that the sports apparel giant could have chosen not to fuel those narratives and instead focused on their brand and products.

This looked like glazing, leading fans to believe Nike had no choice, considering they do not have any superstars to divert their resources to. Otherwise, they might not have agreed to what James wants.

Fans believe the wording in this commercial was a clever way to push the narrative that the Akron native is the basketball GOAT. Check out examples of those reactions below:

LeBron James sure has a resume to claim he is the GOAT of basketball. But this particular commercial infuriated fans as it felt like his team was intentionally running this to change the opinions of millions of fans.

They believe James could have allowed narratives to develop naturally instead of trying to create one through claims and perceptions.

LeBron James to join Kai Cenat’s stream

Leaving these fan opinions aside, there are quite a lot of people who support and strongly defend LeBron James. One of them is popular streamer Kai Cenat.

LeBron James is doing everything possible to add to his legacy
LeBron James is doing everything possible to add to his legacy (Image via Bleacher Report/X)

There have been times when the streamer stood up for the Los Angeles Lakers superstar. Then there are times when the latter has helped Cenat build viewers by joining in via phone or FaceTime.

On Cenat’s latest stream, he announced that on Day 30 of his Mafiathon 3, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer will appear on his stream in his studio. Along with that, James will cut all the streamer’s hair that day, possibly being collaboration with the basketball great’s The Shop: Men’s Grooming Line.

This appearance should help set streaming records, as generally, fans, particularly the younger ones who watch live streams, will be overjoyed watching one of the world’s most popular basketball players live.

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