LeBron James has worn Nike throughout his basketball career after wearing Adidas while he was in high school. James famously signed a contract with Nike right before he entered the NBA, although much has been made of the fact that legendary Adidas executive Sonny Vaccaro wanted his company to offer James a 10-year contract worth $100 million.
That ended up being too rich for some decision makers’ blood, and Nike was able to swoop in and offer James a more lucrative deal that has turned into a lifetime contract. All of that serves as the backdrop for Saturday afternoon’s Drew League game in which James played — the league’s uniforms are made by Adidas, and as noted by several people on Twitter, James looked like he covered up the Adidas logo on his jersey before he played.
LeBron has covered the Adidas logo on his Drew League jersey 🪡 pic.twitter.com/tXaCi24D4W
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) July 16, 2022
If you didn’t notice LeBron has the Adidas logo blocked out on his Jersey 😂
“Checks over stripes” pic.twitter.com/WSqFmlDjdm
— The Game Day Hoops (@TheGameDayHoops) July 16, 2022
Not surprised LeBron covered the adidas logo on the jersey (📸 by @EnjoyBBall) pic.twitter.com/guh0R9iXGy
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 16, 2022
Here are some of James’ highlights from the game — it can be hard to see, but you can notice that most of his teammates have an Adidas logo at the center of their chest.
LeBron SHUT IT DOWN in the @DrewLeague today dropping 42 points and snatching the W!
👑 @KingJames: 42 PTS, 16 REB, 4 STL pic.twitter.com/ItazG82UVv
— NBA (@NBA) July 16, 2022
Saturday’s game was the first time James played in Drew League, the annual summer pro-am in Los Angeles, since the 2011 NBA lockout. He teamed up with DeMar DeRozan, who is a fixture at the Drew and also appeared to not have the Adidas logo on his jersey (DeRozan, like James, is a Nike athlete). James was outstanding, earning player of the game honors in a thrilling 104-102 win. James scored 42 points, pulled down 14 rebounds, and registered four steals in his first organized basketball game since April.