Empoword

Part Three: Research and Argumentation 406 wanted a new type of sports marketing. Rather than endorsements, he wanted partnerships” (Thomaselli). This reads almost verbatim to what LaVar is talking about now in the year 2017. History may not be repeating itself but it is, at the very least, rhyming. Neither of these journeys—LeBron’s and the Ball family’s—are without speedbumps, though. LeBron and his people created their own management and media agency, LRMR, in Maverick Carter’s mother’s kitchen after firing LeBron’s agent (Torre). LRMR’s first major media project was “The Decision — the broadly consumed and deeply unpopular ESPN primetime special wherein James announced he was leaving the Cavs for the Heat” (Torre). This seemingly self-indulgent, look-at-me production made LeBron the most hated player in the league for quite some time (despite it raising tens of millions of dollars for charity). Similarly, the Ball family’s notoriety is coming at the expense of many criticisms of LaVar’s outspokenness. The resemblances between the two cases are uncanny; the Balls are just more pronounced in their desires while moving the timeline ahead a year. After all, LaVar did declare that they were never planning to “sign with a company and then wait around for five or six years for a shoe” (Rovell). Now that LeBron has neared the mountaintop of basketball and dominates the sneaker world as well, he has set his sights to other avenues. He has continuously chosen partnerships—such as his with Warner Bros. that the studio called “unprecedented in scope”—that give greater creative control than their competing alternatives offered (Torre). LRMR has created Uninterrupted, a media outlet for players to connect directly with fans. Continuing to buck traditional sensibilities that hang on to the players’ teams as their primary allegiance, he headlines and works closely in this effort with Draymond Green, “James’ ostensible [Golden State] Warriors rival” (Torre). Notably, Draymond Green is also a Nike athlete, another hint to the waning importance of team conflicts as opposed to promotion of more personal undertakings. According to LeBron, the projects he is participating in now are all part of the “vision that [he] had 10- plus years ago” (Torre). The Balls’ sights, while lofty in their own rights, have only been set on the sneaker industry as of now. Still, with their “Shooters Shoot” mentality and their