Monday, October 25, 2010

The Summer of LeBron just will not end. With the change to Fall colors here in NE Ohio, we took the letter L out of the alphabet and thought the matter was closed. Now comes this commercial, certainly the best of what Nike and their ad agency, Widen & Kennedy, has to offer.

Is it a good commercial? Absolutely. Does it make it true. Or the whole truth?

The commercial makes LeBron look like part philosopher, part Don Quixote, part Hall of Famer.

What it can't make LeBron look like is honest.

If photoshop can take 40 pounds off of you, just think what a good commercial can do for your integrity. Or lack of.

The commercial has turned all commentary into a question: "Should I be who you want me to be?"

That question makes a great soundbite, but not a legacy.

In the famous Watergate hearings, the question of note was, what did you know and when did you know it? The question needed both parts answered in order to get a true answer.

The question here is not whether or not he should be who we want him to be.

The real question is: when did he now what he wanted to be?

He is free to be who he wants to be, and free to be it wherever he wants to be.

The question is did he know 12 months earlier?

Did he know the answer when he was in China for the Olympics?

Did he know the answer during playoff game 5 when he earned the name Quitness?

Did he know the answer before teams came to Cleveland to woo him?

Did he know before every available player was committed elsewhere and Cleveland was left with nothing to fill the roster?

Nike has a lot of shoes riding on whether we believe it was as simple as one question. Nike has put millions behind their one question.

If we are allotted one question in the LeBron Derby, my question would be,

When did he know?