LeBron James in Manila for the Rise Beyond Belief tour

In line with its Rise campaign, LeBron James will be making his return to the highly-anticipated Philippines next week.

James will be tasked to mentor the Rise players and serve as their inspiration. His backstory is a good illustration of perseverance and overcoming adversity. After all, he has been the subject of scrutiny since high school, and his relentless drive and desire for greatness provides a template for these youngsters to follow, as they make the attempt to rise above it all.

LeBron will also make the announcement as to who will make the final cut. Those who were selected will comprise Team Rise for their final task.

Team Rise ain't the only ones who would have the chance to "Witness Greatness." Just like his previous visit here, the Mall of Asia Arena will serve as a venue for one of his activities. This time, it will be on August 20, and fans, much like the that time back in 2013, will have the chance to be in attendance. How?

1. Fans will have to visit http://gonike.me/LebronJamesRiseTour starting August 14 at 9am.

2. Follow the instructions on the site in registering, and if successful, they will be receiving a confirmation e-mail.
3. Fans will need to present that e-mail and a valid ID to a Nike store at the designated date and time from August 15-18 to claim the tickets.

In addition, a "Rise Beyond Belief" photo booth will be set up at the Fort branch of Nike Park, in which fans could have the chance to be part of a special photo mosaic of James.

Fans can watch Nike Rise on all Sundays of August, 6pm, on TV5. In case you want to relive the episodes, you can head to Sports5.ph or on Nike Philippines' YouTube page.

Hard Work... Together... feat. LeBron James via Nike

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Hard Work... Together...

By now you are familiar with that Nike commercial involving LeBron James. If you are not, let me refresh your memory a little bit.



The title of the video is "Together," highlighting and celebrating the pride and emotion that came with James' return to Cleveland this past offseason.

Directed by the Malloy Brothers, Nike Basketball collaborated with advertising firm Wieden + Kennedy to conceptualize the short.

It depicts a huddle by James with the Cavaliers, with Cleveland citizens inside and outside of the Quicken Loans Arena joining in as a show of unity. One team. One city. One goal.

Among those participating are Cavs teammates Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, Anderson Varejao, Shawn Marion, Tristan Thompson, Matthew Dellavedova and Joe Harris, LeBron's mother Gloria, his high school coach at St. Vincent St. Mary's Dru Joyce, as well as the children from the LeBron James Family Foundation.

To complement the short, a 10-story 25,000 banner was unveiled on Ontario street. Nike recorded the reveal through time-lapse on its YouTube page:



On the day LeBron officially makes his season debut, Nike will also debut the LEBRON 12 HRT OF A LION on its stores. For those who relish creativity, it is also ready for custom design at www.nikeid.com wherever NIKEiD is available.

Rubber City Soul: The Lyrical Tapestry of one LeBron James

Talent is given... Greatness is earned.  (Lemon Andersen, 2013)

Last night, LeBron James played 38 minutes, scored 17 points, grabbed six rebounds, dished off eight assists and stole the ball once, as the Miami Heat opened their title defense with a 107-95 victory over the Chicago Bulls. It marked his 11th season in the league. And it meant we, as fans of the association, have been basking in a decade of LeBron.

To commemorate that feat, our friends at Nike asked award-winning poet and playwright Lemon Andersen to compose a poem about the King, who happens to be the second player to have had a series of shoes as long as he has. You probably know the other one.

The result can be seen below.



The woven tapestry of words, can be read as follows after the jump:

#WitnessHistory: Nike Philippines brings Lebron James to Manila

On July 23, NBA superstar LeBron James will be in Manila for a one-day visit. Nike Philippines will host the festivities, dubbed as the Witness History Manila Tour, for the basketball superstar at the Mall of Asia Arena. The tour is designed for the King's passion for the game to inspire young Filipino athletes to embark on their own pursuit of greatness.

It is that quest for greatness that inspired LeBron way back from his high school days at St. Vincent St. Mary's in Akron, to his early days with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and now with the Miami Heat, winning back-to-back NBA titles and four MVP trophies along the way. It is also that kind of drive that aided him to help the United States win two Olympic gold medals.

Lebron recognizes that there is a constant need to improve his game, spending countless hours in the gym to practice and hone his skills. Acknowledging that he is a still far from being a finished product, he preaches the concept that greatness is a process that requires continual introspection and fine-tuning. That concept is something he would want others to pick up on and go with it, especially with the Filipinos that he will be meeting on July 23.

Tickets for the free event were released at noon today at the Nike Park in Bonifacio High Street on a first come, first serve basis, with a maximum of two tickets per person.

Fans can also participate by leaving their personal messages to LeBron via social media. Taking a cue from Nike's "Leave a Message" digital and social media campaign shortly after the Heat won their back-to-back title, they can visit the Nike Basketball Facebook page and "leave a message" by posting a photo of themselves with a personal message to James. They just need to tag Nike Basketball Philippines (www.facebook.com/nikebasketball.phils) and include the hashtag, #WITNESSHISTORY.

They can also tweet their message by tagging Nike Basketball Philippines on Twitter (@NikePH) and the #WITNESSHISTORY hashtag.

For more information on the Witness History Tour, follow Nike Basketball on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/nikebasketball.phils) and Twitter via @NikePH.

Athletes and The 2013 Time 100

One of the more anticipated things from TIME every is their list of the 100 most influential people in the world, for short, the TIME 100.

This year's edition includes on its illustrious list, four athletes from four different sports (tennis, football, skiing and basketball). Three were grouped as Icons, but the King gets to be a Titan.

Here is a snippet on each:

Li Na

"At tournaments, I’ve seen her charm the crowds. When she smiles, everyone melts. She’s such a breath of fresh air. And like Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova before her, Li Na has transcended her sport." - Chris Evert

Lindsey Vonn

"We can relate to each other because our sports are so similar, given the speed involved and the concentration level required. There’s an immediate level of respect when you meet someone who knows what you go through." - Danica Patrick

Mario Balotelli

"Mario is a lovely guy, very humble and very funny. I can assure people he has always been a pleasure to deal with. He has returned to Italy from England as the main man with lots of attention. Now he has to ensure he keeps control and keeps focus. Mario loves the pressure, but to succeed, it is about finding balance." - Gianfranco Zola

Lebron James

"LeBron never takes a play off. His all-out effort is what stands out when you watch him. Whether his team is up 20 or down 20, LeBron is playing like it’s Game 7 of the NBA Finals. His dedication, devotion and focus have won the admiration of fans — and his athletic peers. He’s someone anyone, in any profession, can look up to." - Derek Jeter

In addition, a couple more individuals on the TIME 100 are minority sports owners. Jay-Z is already in the news for his efforts in divesting his ownership share of the Brooklyn Nets as he embarks on his new endeavor with player representation. Meanwhile, his buddy Justin Timberlake is a minority owner of his hometown Memphis Grizzlies.

King James x Iron Man sneakermash

When you are Lebron James, you can pretty much do whatever you want. This includes getting shoes done in whatever you want it to be.

Apparently, he commissioned Dan Gamache, one of the experts in customizing kicks, to use a Nike Lebron X as the canvas for working on an Ironman 3 colorway. And he just received it the other day in a specially crafted container.

Interesting dovetailing, as the movie is coming out this May 3 and the latest trailer just released.



Considering Lebron averaged 29.7 pts 7.5 rebs and 7.8 assists, shooting 64% from the field last month, he can do whatever he want.

The evolution of the LeBron Narrative, by PTI

Grantland's new piece is great, because this was cobbled from the archives. Great job.


Wonder what is next for him?

Lebron and the Liverpool Shoe

Lebron James has said that he wants to be a billionaire athlete. To get there, he'll have to make smart marketing decisions with the stuff that he is responsible with. His latest effort to get to that milestone involves his latest plaything.

As part of his deal involving his sports marketing firm, LRMR Branding and Marketing, with the Fenway Sports Group just over a year ago, he secured a minority stake in the ownership of Liverpool Football Club. He already made his way to Anfield during the lockout to watch the Reds play. During that time, he gave the players custom-designed Beats by Dre headphones.

Now, he and his Nike cohorts apparently have designed a version of the Nike Lebron 9 Low sneaker, in what was termed as a marriage of an old passion (basketball shoes) with a new one (ownership of a football club). However, if you are a true Kopite, you will see some things that look kinda off.

If you can see there, that is not the Liver-bird, it is a more of a gryphon.

Those are 18 Premier League Trophies there, to mark the 18 championships. Unfortunately, the Premier League officially existed 20 years ago, and the last time Liverpool won a championship was in 1989-90, when it was still called the First Division. Here is a picture of that trophy:

What is especially interesting with this is that Nike's rival Adidas is the official outfitter of the Reds as of the moment, before the move to Warrior Sports.

It is rumoured that this version of the Lebron 9 will be released on May 5, in time for the FA Cup Final between Liverpool and Chelsea. Now we do not know if this colorway will be released given the backlash.

(h/t to The Big Lead and Yahoo!'s Dirty Tackle for the lowdown)

Et tu, Scottie Pippen?

So, Scottie Pippen said that LeBron James is a better player than Michael Jordan. Interesting to note that it was Chris Broussard, the guy other than Brian Windhorst on ESPN that is thought to be the closest to James, who asked the question. Chris was guy who insisted that the James is going to Miami just before "The Decision" took place.


Feel free to compare His Airness to the King. Restrict yourself up to Jordan's first threepeat, if you want. Lebron has a long way to go. Will he get there, it's up to him and what does he want to do with what lies ahead for his future. He has to answer the question: What do I definitely want to accomplish, really?

In addition, it's hard for us to judge legacies when one has not yet finished his and is still in the midst of carving what his true legacy is, was and will be. We still do it because it makes good conversation and debate.

All I know is, we will have an idea on how things might just turn into when the games tip off American Airlines Arena / Center.

Update: Just as I am writing this, Pip tweets his explanations.

Lebron James & Liverpool

We all know about Lebron and his desire to become a global icon. That is probably one reason why he left Cleveland for South Beach.
According to Wikipedia (which you may take seriously or not):

Endorsements

James has endorsement contracts with Nike, Sprite, Glacéau, Bubblicious, Upper Deck, McDonald's and State Farm.^[132][133] With Nike, James has released six signature shoe styles, and four additional shoes (20–5–5, Soldier, Soldier 2, Ambassador). He has acted in a 2007 series of commercials called "The LeBrons", as well as had his likeness voiced by Kenan Thompson in a 2009 commercial series titled "MVPuppets". In December 2007, James was ranked at #1 in the Forbes Top 20 Earners Under 25 with annual earnings of $27 million.^[134]

Now, Lebron, Inc. takes the next step in building his brand in an attempt to be a global marketing tool. He is now a minority owner of Liverpool FC. Yes, the team with the iconic anthem.


As such, maybe he is the magic talisman that would bring luck and hope to a star-crossed franchise. Wait, I think I have seen this scenario before...

Lebron being Efficient and Consistent

Okay, I know some people grow sick and tired of talking about the Heat, because they really do make an interesting storyline for the whole year. However, after what most saw during the game (it was shown on BTV), and from reading the tweet streams and tweet conversations after the game(s), color the world impressed with the Stud-worthy statline.



What the King pulled off against the Magic was definitely an impressive feat in itself. He started off like a house on fire, making his first 11 attempts.



Then, with Wade getting beaten up and Bosh not really being a factor, Lebron just went on and on.



I still think Derrick Rose is the front runner for the MVP, but Lebron is really making a creditable chase for it even with he and Dwayne Wade putting up pretty much the same numbers as what they had last year.

(c/o CBS Sports)

Lebron and Legacy

Lebron, it is all about you. It is all about your legacy and your future. Game 5 was unacceptable given your stature and who you are and what people expect from you. They expect effort and competitive drive. Even if things are not going your way, you go out there and you show that you gave it your all, just like the great ones did.

We are witnesses today, Lebron. We will witness what you got tonight. Because this will set the tone for what is to come.