“You talk about not being able to handle the pressure, but LeBron James has managed it exceptionally!”: Throwback to King James’ first Nike commercial about freezing under pressure

LeBron James has always had well thought out commercials – be it his latest super bowl ad, or his first one with Nike

The latest super bowl commercial was the talk of the town a couple of weeks ago. In it, a young LeBron James meets his current counterpart talking about what becomes of him in the future. While both of them exchanged thoughts about how the world has changed, one thing did not from all those years ago – LeBron being in ads that were conversation starters.

Nike made a subtle yet powerful advert on how James could have easily frozen with all eyes on him, yet he breezed through the game like he was a seasoned veteran in the league. The commercial showed what every rookie will go through, but also how ready they mentally must be in order to make it in the league.

His first NBA commercial with Nike was a representation of his first game in the league against the Sacramento Kings. The expectations of him performing at the highest level were through the roof – and he did not disappoint. Scoring a record-setting 25 points and also notching up 9 assists and 6 rebounds, James made sure he did not freeze like how he did in the commercial.

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LeBron James has handled the pressure put on him better than any rookie in the past 20 years

No player has had the amount of pressure put on him as much as LeBron right from his first game. Even as a player in high school, people were talking him up to be the next Michael Jordan. Those are huge boots to fill for anyone, let alone a 17-year-old kid. But James took it in his stride and ran with it. He has not looked back since his first game in the league and will retire as one of the all-time greats.

While the jury may be out on whether he has had a bigger impact on the game than Jordan, no one can argue that they are mighty close to each other. While one shocked the league with just how consistently great he was, the other shocked the world by how long he could consistently do it for. Bron is one of the few players to have never averaged below 20 points a game in his career ever, just like MJ.

While he may not have the team accolades like Air Jordan does, other numbers certainly do make up for it. Very recently he surpassed Kareem in total points scored (playoffs included). That is a video game level statistic, one which can only be achieved by consistent greatness over 19 years.

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