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Nike’s latest promotional gadget in the Big Apple is more like a LeBron James museum.

The shoe giant has opened a temporary store in New York’s SoHo district called IV, a reference to the latest model of his signature shoe.

“LeBron Zoom IV” New York edition shoes went on sale Monday at 4 p.m. at the new pop-up shop.

Only 225 pairs were available at $250 apiece. The shoes are black, white and red with graffiti on the sole, with “You haven’t made until you make it in NYC” on the inside.

China LeBron Zoom IV’s – the version of the shoes that were created for the Cavs forward and until now were only available in China. The limited edition colorways – red and white instead of black – will also be available in Chinatown in San Francisco

IV pop-up shop is a walk through James’ past.

Memorabilia from James’ childhood and his high school years litter the store. From old football and basketball uniforms to baby shoes to youth pictures, it is a James experience.

On the floor are quotes about James from people in his past in a timeline format, including his mother, Gloria, and former coach Keith Dambrot. Nike has displayed all the models of his shoes, including some that were never released, such as a Fruity Pebbles version.

In other James-related Nike New York hype, there is a multistory neon sign of James dunking with a blinking “Witness” sign on his calf a block from Madison Square Garden. James, who said he hasn’t seen the billboard, has a new “Witness” tattoo on his calf.. New York Post, ABJ, Freshness

“For there was King James suddenly rising over 34th Street and 7th Avenue, 80 feet high, framed in neon, a Nike monument to his penchant for pushing product.” Adrian Wojnarowski a national NBA columnist for Yahoo! Sports said. 

“I’ve heard about it,” James said, but he hadn’t bothered to leave his midtown Manhattan hotel to see for himself.

“James shrugged his shoulders. Magic and Michael would have left the hotel to see themselves here, but LeBron never bothered. He never bothered to play the New York bargaining chip game, never bothered raising the possibility that maybe this would be the one city, the one building, big enough to blast his brand to the ends of the earth.

He didn’t need a business school degree to understand the NBA’s new world market. In the information age, LeBron could be King James anywhere, including the shadows of his hometown of Akron.

Before he signed a three-year extension this summer, James had figured out that New York needed LeBron far more than LeBron needed New York. Or Los Angeles. Or Chicago. Or Miami.

He never needed the World’s Most Famous Arena the way Magic Johnson did the Fabulous Forum and the way Larry Bird needed Boston Garden.

“I never thought about that,” James said. “Me being from Ohio, playing high school basketball in Ohio and now being a professional athlete in Ohio, playing in this arena as a home court never crossed my mind.”

Between now and the championship stage, James can talk to the masses through his Nike commercials, talk to the billion people in China wearing red, white and blue in Beijing in 2008. Yes, the world can belong to LeBron James without him ever climbing down out of that Times Square billboard and bouncing his ball in the big city.

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Both Cleveland papers had big writeups on Sasha Pavlovic and it’s clear he’s in the Cavs’ plans as the sixth man since he’s knocking down shots and playing D. Cleveland plays four times this week and he could be a nice pickup in deep leagues, although he comes with no guarantees. Drew Gooden was nearly invisible in his last game, as the team chose to go small and Mike Brown liked the way Anderson Varejao was playing in place of Gooden. Gooden should probably be in starting lineup this week with the four games.

New financial records have become public thanks to a new federal law that require unions to show their financial records to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Last fiscal year, the NBA paid the NBA Player’s Association $25 million of the league’s merchandise and licensing income. Starting with the collective bargaining agreement in 1998, the players started getting a big piece of it, even those who are out of the league or retired. Michael Jordan got a check for $77,000, LeBron James got $40,000. That money is doled out based on service time, not individual sales. That’s why Cavs General Manager Danny Ferry got more than James and Jordan, collecting $113,000, the same as Kobe Bryant. One of the biggest checks went to Cavs broadcaster Scott Williams at $137,000. That’s even more than Shaquille O’Neal’s cut of $121,000.

Who else is getting paid:

Mark Price ($20,000),
J.R. Bremer ($50,000),
Ron Harper ($52,000),
Terrell Brandon ($99,000),
Shawn Kemp ($63,000),
Robert Traylor ($105,000)
And yes Harris made $123,000 and Welsch was paid $65,000

Source: The Akron Beacon Journal

The firing of Michael Reghi prompted a huge thread at the CAVS.com official discussion forum.

“Michael Reghi was one of the most dynamic play-by-play annoucers i’ve ever heard. He brought some much to a Cavs game. You could sense his passion and enjoyment for the game itself, and the Cavs in general” a poster said.

“I went to Cavs.com and clicked on contact and sent a message to whoever receives it. Hopfullly this thread and any other messages we send will reach eyes who are able and will take action… Bless”

The thread was started back in October 17th with the simple post “Discuss how to bring him back”. Less than a month later, the thread reached over 530 posts and growing very fast.

Fans are sending emails to the Cavs organization and local sport writers and sport radio talk hosts in hopes to put pressure on the Cavaliers organization to bring Michael Reghi back.

A petition was started at PetitionOnline.com which provides free online hosting of public petitions. The petition received over 550 signature with over 20 signature added daily.Michael Reghi is a former television play-by-play announcer for the Cleveland Cavaliers He served as the Cavaliers play-by-play announcer from December 1, 1994 through August 3, 2006. His catch phrases include “Let’s book this one” “Wheelin’ and dealin’ in the paint,” “Flight 23 prepares for takeoff,”On August 3, 2006, Reghi was replaced by former Detroit Pistons announcer Fred McLeod as the television voice of the Cavaliers.  

 

LeBron James only stayed on the floor as long as needed.   James, accused of quitting on his team too early in his previous game, scored 19 points with a season-high 12 assists to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers past the Chicago Bulls 113-94.
Drew Gooden added 20 points in three quarters, Anderson Varejao had a career-high 15 and Sasha Pavlovic 16 points in a season-high 25 minutes for the Cavaliers, whose bench went 21of30 from the field and helped Cleveland bounce back from an overtime loss on Tuesday to the Atlanta Hawks.
Following that game, James took some heat for walking off the court while there was still about 10 seconds left on the clock. The Cavaliers were down by nine points at that point, but that didn’t seem to matter to critics who felt James should have played until the final horn.

Beginning next June, LeBron James, Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Amare Stoudemire and Vince Carter will host elite skills camps for the top 20 high school male players at each position. With Nike, Nash will run a camp for point guards in New Jersey, while Bryant will do the same for shooting guards in Los Angeles. Nike also has Stoudemire helping big men in Phoenix and Carter the wing players in Florida.

Then in July, those 80 players will gather in Akron, Ohio, to learn five-on-five concepts under the academy direction of King James, the crown jewel in Nike’s endorsement crown. ESPN

LeBron James doesn’t like the new synthetic basketball.  “It’s not a good basketball,” the Cleveland Cavaliers Forward told the AP. “It kind of feels like a basketball you buy for your kids at Christmas or something.”   And he’s not the only one. James’ sentiments have been echoed by many of his NBA colleagues. Shaquille O’Neal, Steve Nash, Dwyane Wade and others have all bashed the new model.  “Sometimes it feels good, sometimes it doesn’t,” James added. “It’s got no consistency.”   James initially thought it would only take a few adjustments, but he’s still having trouble getting comfortable with the bounce and touch of the new ball. “Sometimes you can grip it, and sometimes during the game it sticks to your hand,” he said. “It won’t bounce, it will just roll on you. I don’t know why we can’t get used to this ball. But it’s just not good.”  James first used the ball in the All-Star game last season, which he doesn’t attribute to earning MVP honors. He continued to use it in Japan during the FIBA World Championships and he worked with it during practices during the offseason. James also doesn’t understand why the league thought that going with a synthetic ball would improve the quality of the sport.  “You can shorten our shorts, tell us how to wear wristbands, things like that. Change the dress code. But the one thing we care about is the basketball,” he said. “When you start changing the thing we play with every single day, it doesn’t make sense to me — at all.”