Considered to be the best basketball player in the world today, Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James has signed a lifetime deal with sneaker giant Nike.
A report by ESPN stated that the endorsement deal is said to be the, "largest single-athlete guarantee in company history."
In 2003, when James was still in high school, Nike already made a deal to sign the two-time NBA champion.
"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," the company said of the four-time NBA Most Valuable Player awardee.
The shoe company has already made 13 different models of sneakers under James. There are reports that the popular athlete and his team were negotiating with Nike if it was a good idea to create their own brand of Team LeBron outside the company's basketball umbrella. However, the sneaker giant decided against the it.
James' signature line is estimated to reach $400 in annual sales in 2015. He is the only other outlet with the most signature shoe that Nike has made; the other one is the great Michael Jordan, who will be releasing his 30th Air Jordan.
Meanwhile, the latest signature of James, Lebron 13 "Blue Lagoon," will be released on Dec. 12. Fans are expected to flock the stores as soon as it hits them.
James has been teasing NBA fans by wearing the shoes on the court before it is being released. The newest version of his shoes will have a price of $200, as stated in a report by Sneaker News.
Although there are many fans who would want to grab the latest James signature sneaker, others are disappointed by the way it is being designed. Despite his new lifetime deal with Nike, experts are saying that James' line is experiencing a downward spiral in sales in the past few weeks, Wall Street Journal reported.
"LeBron's shoes have always been bigger and bulkier than the others, so it's hard for a young kid to want to wear that big shoe, and convince his mother to spend $200, when he can get Steph's shoe for $60 less," Josh Luber explained, founder of Campless.
Nevertheless, James' on-court brilliance will always be his market advantage towards other athletes. The American professional basketball player, who will turn 31 late this month, will bring the NBA banner together with Stephen Curry, especially now that Kobe Bryant had expressed his plan to retire after this season.
