The Brand

In case you missed it the Where-will-LeBron-James-play-next-year media event is over. I have to admit that in any given season I will watch perhaps one quarter of one NBA game. I love sports and am something of a college basketball junkie, but the NBA does nothing for me. Yet I was fascinated by the hype created by and around this young man. Or rather the hype created about the brand, the image, the product known as LeBron James.
Fame and fortune can do strange things to people (or so I am told. I am neither famous or wealthy. But I am, however, willing to give both a try!) Some people don't want it but have to deal with it. Others seek it out, not always aware of how it will alter their lives. I think LeBron James might fall in the latter of the two. Playing basketball, it seems, is a vehicle, a means to create a brand that has made Mr. James extremely rich and able to generate unbelievable media attention. Yet the line between a brand and the real live human being behind the brand can be difficult to maintain. People, even extremely talented basketball players, are not products. The problem is I am not sure the average fan/consumer is capable or willing to make the distinction. I wonder if LeBron James is able to make it as well.
Human beings are created in the image and likeness of God. We are capable of love, compassion, hope, vision, and creativity. We are not, however, God. Humans make mistakes. Lots and lots of mistakes. We need grace and forgiveness and understanding. We tend to extend forgiveness to other humans (and our pets) but not things. Ask Toyota and BP.. I am not in any way shape or form comparing LeBron James to British Petroleum and the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. What I am saying is that when you turn yourself into a brand you risk losing your humanity. And then other people stop treating you like a human.
Last night there we police officers patrolling James' house. People in Cleveland burned his jersey. Why all of this violence for a basketball player who decided to play for another team? Because the brand that is LeBron James failed Cleveland Cavalier fans. And they are angry about it. Is it right, is it fair? I don't know. As a sports fan I get upset when my team loses (and my children learn colorful new words that you will not find in the Bible). I don't, however, want to go and burn down the houses of the players who failed to win. People makes mistakes and competitive sports is set up so someone wins and someone loses. It's just a game and life goes on.
What Mr. James is going to discover is that by turning himself into a brand, a product, folks are going to treat him like a brand or product. No matter how much money he gives to charity his brand is based on one thing and one thing only - winning. Cleveland fans are upset because they believe that without James they will not win (and that James never won a championship in his seven years in Cleveland). The brand failed to deliver. Brands are not entitled to forgiveness or understanding or compassion. I wonder if LeBron James the brand will miss being treated like LeBron James the person by some fans and most of the media?