Comments on: LeBron is Missing a Massive Opportunity

By: Zigman

Zigman — Tue, 18 May 2010 19:25:20 +0000

Lebron James is the MVP for the Regular Season but Kobe Bryant is No. 1 and the Best Player in the NBA. James can't finished, he's the King Choker. There's no comparison between the two, James is still in High School, Kobe is taking his Master Degree.

By: What Rocky Balboa can teach us about social media | Ash Read

What Rocky Balboa can teach us about social media | Ash Read — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 09:02:49 +0000

[...] Success doesn’t come overnight online either, just because you’re a pro athlete or a well known sports team, this doesn’t give you a divine right to get a huge social media following without putting in the work (unless your name is LeBron James). [...]

By: cheis

cheis — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 08:33:47 +0000

Hey Dummy Are you stupid he isn't going to dunk with a bunch of nobodys if your the best dunker would you face a 5'8 nate robinson no

By: Sam Taggart

Sam Taggart — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:35:27 +0000

Ryan & Lewis, I’d love to have a deeper conversation around LeBron & social media. I think there’s validity to both sides of the argument…

By: Sam Taggart

Sam Taggart — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:30:13 +0000

Lewis, I think we’re on the same page. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. LeBron doesn’t owe us ANYTHING. Not one thing. But he does have the ability to connect with fans, and he could do it without a lot of effort.

I honestly don’t care if he’s on Ustream or Twitter or Facebook. The platform doesn’t matter. It’s all about engaging with his fans.

In the end, I’m not going to fault him for not being on social media, and I hope it doesn’t come across as me attacking him in this article. He’s got bigger fish to fry, I understand. We’ll see. The things he could accomplish with just a little effort towards social media…

By: Sam Taggart

Sam Taggart — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:24:52 +0000

Ryan, I completely see where you’re coming from and I respect your argument. Obviously social media is not the one solution to everybody’s problems. And basketball is, without even a fraction of a doubt, LeBron’s #1, #2, and #3 concerns. Like I stressed over and over in the article, LeBron is doing a really good job for himself without social media.

My point is that, we are reaching an age where the worlds of sports and social media have intersected and I don’t think they will ever diverge. Sure, athletes will stop using Twitter and Facebook, but they will move on to the next thing. The tools are irrelevant. It’s the fact that athletes and fans now have the ability to connect with each other, without the filter of the mainstream media.

Again, it is NOT about the Twitter followers or the Facebook fans, it’s about his opportunity to become an athlete like we’ve never seen before. I completely understand that LeBron’s focus is on rings. But with just a little effort on the social media side of things, he could reach levels of popularity, fame, and devotion I can’t imagine.

By: Ryan Stephens

Ryan Stephens — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 04:03:28 +0000

@Jonathan – He just turned 25 years old. Not only does he not have a post up game yet, but his 20 footer could be more reliable as well. He’s got plenty of time to develop both. The way LeBron galvanizes teammates and entrances fans is virtually unparalleled.

I just think if you’re in LeBron’s position social media is completely inconsequential. It doesn’t fulfill a need. Maybe he gets 5-10 million Twitter fans… what difference does it make? What if some of those fans start whining about LeBron not replying to their @replies? What if he doesn’t come off as charismatic on his UStream? What then?

He already is a global iconic empire. Does he need more press? Does he need more sponsorships? $1 Billion dollars. He doesn’t need money. He needs rings.

We get so immersed in this space that we start thinking it’s the solution to everything. Social media should be ONE tool in a much larger toolbox. And it’s not for everyone. There’s TONS of successful business people out there who don’t have a Twitter, LinkedIn, Blog, et al…

By: Lewis Howes

Lewis Howes — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 01:25:44 +0000

This is an interesting post for me. As much as I read and promote the articles on this site, I haven’t been commenting as much as I wanted to see what the opinions of the readers are over sharing my own. But here are my thoughts:

I have seen LeBron play in person, and yes, he is an extremely gifted athlete and basketball player. My friend in college actually played against him his senior year of the Ohio High School championship game… and beat him!

Then another friend who went to my college beat him in a game of horse (look up the video on YouTube… pretty funny).

LeBron has talent, and I agree to some extent with Ryan that he shouldn’t be focusing on Social Media, but I have to say I agree more with Sam that he should be using social media.

It’s about becoming a global iconic empire. Tiger is the billion dollar athlete… and has tons of championships. If I were LeBron, I would focus on winning championships, and surpassing the billion dollar mark as well.

Guys at LeBron’s level care most about championships… but I guarantee he wants to be a bigger brand than Tiger.

Best way to do it.. make sure you are doing more than Tiger offline and online. I don’t think it would be too much for him to do 1 video per week in the locker room, on the court, in his Hummer, or on the road, just sharing his thoughts about basketball and the season.

He could have someone film it, post to his facebook fan page, and start posting it to Twitter. And if he felt like it he could respond to a few people every now and then… and just ease into social media.

If he did this his 1.6 million fans would turn into 5-10 million very quickly… he could leverage this with sponsors, and get more press out of it as well.

There are more long term benefits to this as well, but I think it would only help his brand in the long term.

Thoughts?

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:57:34 +0000

One minor point I have with Ryan: LeBron is the best in the NBA, but that’s because of sheer talent. If he were truly out to be the best, he would state his goal would be “best player ever” not “global icon.” His lack of a post-up game reveals this little chink in the argument.

By: Ryan Stephens

Ryan Stephens — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:22:00 +0000

No. No. No and no. I feel the same way about LeBron participating in social media as I do Steve Jobs. They have more important things to worry about. Seth Godin doesn’t tweet. Why? Because he couldn’t be the best at it.

LeBron wants to be the absolute best at everything he does. Can he do social media as good as Chad Johnson? Perhaps, but why invest the time?

Chad Johnson has become more of a “brand” than an on the field star. Shaq probably would’ve taken social media up in his prime, but it makes more sense for him now as way to extend his brand now that he’s not the player he once was.

LeBron? He should invest all his time into becoming a better basketball player (there’s really no ceiling), and trying to win championships.

How many truly top tier athletes are really participating in social media? I mean, peak of their careers? And of those how many are doing it themselves and not someone doing it on behalf of them.

I’m a huge proponent of the power of the social web and how it’s capable of enhancing someone’s brand. It’s AWESOME for guys like Kerry Rhodes and Charlie V, but I’d just soon LeBron play ball.