It’s no secret that everyone thought LeBron James would be a generational superstar before he ever set foot on an NBA court. Three key players in the sneaker market, Reebok, Adidas, and Nike, all hotly pursued James’ signature while he was still in high school. Their recruitment tactics led to an all-out bidding war and Sonny Vaccaro’s prophecy coming true.
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Brian Windhorst stressed just how accurate Vaccaro was with his prediction, almost down to the exact dollar amount. “When I was dealing with [Sonny] during the LeBron shoe wars, everything he said came true!” Windhorst said on the Hoop Collective.
Windhorst believed LeBron would swing $30 or $40 million in his first shoe deal, but the Vacarro had a much higher number in mind: $100 million. Though Windhorst doubted, the sneaker mogul’s prediction came true.
Considering Kobe Bryant was only making a fraction of that in his own shoe deal with Adidas despite winning three championships, Windhorst questioned Vacarro. But Vacarro knew that if no one else was willing to offer that amount, he and Adidas would write that check.
The sneaker mogul made every effort to convince LeBron to join Adidas, but to no avail. He sent private jets to James, flew the legend out as a teenager and built a relationship with his family in hopes of recruiting LeBron to his company.
Nike apparently felt Vacarro breathing down their necks, though, and the rival brand swooped in for the win with a 7-year, $90 million offer.
Sonny Vacarro opened up about his failed shoe deal with LeBron
To this day, the iconic shoe executive regrets not pursuing the King even harder. Vacarro is still hard on himself for not making the deal happen, as LeBrons have become some of the most popularly worn basketball sneakers in the world.
The future Hall of Famer seamlessly took over Michael Jordan’s role as the face of the Nike brand while Adidas was left searching for their next move. Vacarro even referred to the debacle as the biggest mistake ever in a 2023 interview.
“It was the dumbest single mistake anybody ever made in the history of negotiating. If [LeBron] signs [with Adidas], the whole world changes,” he said. There’s no doubt the sneaker landscape would look a lot different today if James had joined Vacarro and Adidas.
