NBA superstar Lebron James decided to rock with Nike's side on the rising beef between the brand and Hip-Hop artist and producer Kanye West. Despite having a friendly relationship with West, James told Toronto Star reporter Chris O'Leary that he hasn't really listened to West's new track, but said that he's always on Nike's side no matter the situation.
The new tune called "Facts", dropped during New Year's Eve, gave the internet a huge buzz with the shots thrown at Nike. The lyrics go: 'Nike treat them employees just like slaves, gave Lebron a billi (billion) not to run away.'
According to a report by Cleveland, James said that they (himself and Nike) don't look down on people but always try to put the best athletes that they can every time. "And Phil Knight's greatest saying is 'always listen to the heart of the athlete, listen to the words of the athlete'. And that's all it's about. Nothing else," James added.
West's citation of the 'billi' given to James to run away is now being associated with the lifetime endorsement deal with Nike that the NBA superstar signed. According to SPIN magazine, West complained about releasing delays and failure to offer decent royalties for his Yeezy shoes on Nike's part, hence the end of their creative partnership and West finally signing a reported $10 million deal with Adidas.
In West's track 'Facts', he also threw bombs about Nike being bad compard to his Yeezys that "line up for days". He also mentioned that without Hip-Hop artist Drake and a collaborator on Michael Jordan's Nike shoes named Don C., Nike would have nothing. With everything said, James tells Cleveland that Nike is his family and will 'obviously' side with them no matter what.
