How Kobe Bryant’s Love for ‘Michael Jordan’ Dampened Sonny Vaccaro’s $70 Million Deal for ‘High School’ LeBron James

Sonny Vaccaro was not about to lose another prospect. He wanted to be 3/3 when it came to picking the best players for his companies. He picked Michael Jordan and he picked Kobe Bryant. Vaccaro was ready to offer up $70 million to LeBron James to sign for Adidas. However, it was Kobe Bryant‘s love for Michael Jordan that dampened the deal.

2003, LeBron James was about to be drafted. He was already being called “The Chosen One”, he even tattooed it. The hype and spectacle behind James were phenomenal. And thus every brand wanted his signature. So did Adidas. There was no way Sonny was leaving anything to chance.

He wanted to be 3/3 when it came to choosing prospects. LeBron was far too mercurial. So, when the time came for the brands to make their pitch, Sonny wanted to go all out.

Sonny Vaccaro went all out to court LeBron James but was foiled by Kobe Bryant’s love for Michael Jordan

According to the book, LeBron James Co.: The Making of Billion Dollar Athlete by Brian Windhorst, Vaccaro made sure that Adidas would arrange for a private jet to fetch LeBron. Not to be outdone by Reebok, he wanted to put his best foot forward for the future No. 1 draft pick.

He was flown out to Los Angeles Lakers game. And unfortunately, for Sonny, this was the time when Kobe Bryant was a sneaker “free agent”. He had just broken ties with Adidas and it was a bad decision.

Kobe would go on to score 39 points and torch the San Antonio Spurs, in a playoff game no less. And what did he have on his feet? A pair of Jordans.

Seeing this LeBron James was taken aback. One of the rising stars of the game wearing his idol’s shoes. LeBron wasn’t entirely convinced of Adidas, even if the offer on the table was in excess of $70 million.

The next day the pitch was in a Malibu mansion overlooking the Pacific, but the seed of doubt was already festering in James’s mind.

How Sonny Vaccaro’s reign at Adidas was over before he even courted LeBron James

Sonny came to Adidas with high hopes and in one of his early moves, he picked up Kobe Bryant. A shining young star in Los Angeles. Bryant lived up to all expectations.

He was a talent that was a carbon copy of Michael Jordan. And his rise to stardom was swift. He made Adidas a lot of money. But the company wasn’t great with negotiations and making shoes that athletes liked.

It became so bad that Bryant paid money from his own pocket to leave the company. So by the time, Sonny was emptying his war chest for LeBron, Adidas had proverbially waved the white flag in the sneaker industry.