Nike, LeBron James plan top camp in Akron

By Brian Windhorst

Beacon Journal sportswriter

 

CLEVELAND - LeBron James always likes to boast that he put Akron on the basketball map. Now he and Nike are making it a capital.

 

Though no official announcement has yet been made, Nike officials said this week they are planning on moving their most elite summer camp to Akron next July.

 

For years, the top prep prospects have attended Nike's All-American Camp in Indianapolis every summer. Generally, it is attended by the top collegiate recruits in the country and coaches and scouts from every major university.

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www.ohio.com

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I didn't see this anywhere else, so I thought I'd post it. I want to spin this on a city discussion rather than sports, and I'll explain why. I think LeBron James, beyond being superhuman, presents one of the most exciting catalysts for NE Ohio. As he's shown, he's not interested in little "pet projects." He's about transformative change. I would assume he's the richest 20-something in Ohio -- probably between New York and California... He wants to be worth $1 billion. With that kind of drive, and his previous work in Akron and Glenville, I don't think he wants that money so he can swim in it at his giant, private vault. He wants to be more than a basketball player.

 

Maybe I'm wrapped up in his basketball mystique, but I really think he could have an impact on this region that we haven't seen since the 1920s. Think about it. He convinced Nike to bring its top camp to Akron. I bet he could convince them to move a few jobs here, too...Maybe they could link up with this "design district" idea in Cleveland. How cool would that be? In a way, LeBron Inc. is the quintessential "start-up" of today -- tremendous wealth and power, relatively few employees. But what can that grow? When was the last time we in this region had a guy who commands so much attention and power? He's more than an athlete.

 

Sorry for the rant, but I just hope people are thinking of ways to engage LeBron and the opportunities he presents without begging. The only way any collaboration would work is if it's a good idea.

 

Well the man is worth approximately 28 M, according to an article by CNN, HBO, Fortune & Sports Illustrated.

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/specials/fortunate50/index.html

Well, I may have overstated his influence, ;)

 

But I still think that Nike would be a perfect fit/anchor to this design district. It makes perfect sense. They could have this fancy streetfront, which they could use in their marketing/advertising materials. Everytime they have a national game here in Cleveland, the networks are surely going to show it and I'm sure it'd be branded with Nike stuff. They already show that big billboard every two seconds.

He's not worth $28 mil.  He made $28 mil.  He'll keep making more every year.  He's probably worth $75 million-ish at the moment and he could conceivably hit $1 billion in worth in 20 years from decent investing and savy business decisions.  I don't think you are understating his financial impact whatsoever.  Who knows what other things Lebron has up his sleeves.  As he makes more money and has more success he keeps doing bigger events in Akron.