LeBron James and his Latest Decision: PR Disaster or PR Dream

Now that Lebron has earned his place in NBA history alongside the greats, he has made what he calls “a basketball decision” to return to Cleveland and help make that team a winning franchise. The team certainly has more promise than when he left. Since his departure, the Cleveland Cavaliers have had access to three top draft picks. They have retooled their offense to become one of the rising attack modules in the NBA, and although the return of Lebron James will not give them the championship next year, it certainly brings a much-needed boost to morale to the team as well as to the city.

It is, of course, this morale boost to the city and to America as a whole that is the reason why this decision has created so much media around it. Lebron took to the microphone in a 952 word address stating that he apologized for the way in which he left Cleveland. This alone raised the value of his brand, as he is sure to now attract the attention of many companies who stayed away from him specifically because he might’ve been seen as an opportunist. There is no way that he can be seen as an opportunist now, even though he may actually have the opportunity to help build the Cavaliers up to championship status in the very near future.

Lebron also has much less to prove in his personal NBA career. Now that he’s achieved everything that you can as an individual, it certainly benefits him as a person as well as his brand to play the mentor to young up-and-coming players. If nothing else, Cleveland certainly has its share of those. There is only one true veteran on the team currently, and he has trouble staying in the game because of injuries throughout his career.

In short, the time was right for Lebron to make this decision, and he certainly did in the calculated way that he made his decision to leave Cleveland. However, this calculation was much better than the one he made those few years ago because it is based on much less selfish motives.