By: Martin Rand, III
Date: March 2, 2010
So, LeBron James sent in paperwork to the NBA to get his jersey number changed from 23 to six. I know what everyone in Chicago is thinking, "This means that he is coming to Chicago and he wants to give up the number now before he arrives!" Of course, the legendary Michael Jordan wore number 23, but, I hate to have to bust your bubble Bull fans, but this change doesn't mean James will be packing up and going to the windy city.
In fact, it may be confirmation that he will be staying with the Cavaliers. If James was changing teams, then he could pick any number he wanted when he got to the new team.
Now, he says that he wants to give the number up out of respect for Jordan. However, that doesn't make any sense to me because he has been in the league for seven years, so why now the sudden respect for the great one?
The only answer that makes sense: more money.
See, a change in jersey number would mean more people would want to buy his new jersey, which means more money for James. Kobe Bryant did the same thing in 2007, changing his number from 8 to 24, and last year, he had the highest jersey sale in the NBA. James was third in the league in jersey sales.
With this latest entry in the James Saga, I would say that he is staying in his home-state of Ohio next season; but, if you're not going to change teams and get a new jersey for all your fans to buy and generate revenue, then the next best thing would be to change your number on your current team. That's exactly what James is doing.
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Categories:
Lebron James,
Martin Rand III,
Money,
New York Knicks,
Sports
