Last night , LeBron James became the all-time leading scorer in NBA history, surpassing a record set by Kareem Abdul Jabbar nearly 40 years ago.
To celebrate, Nike released a video highlighting James’ career, full of clips and images of James with an, um, inspirational message over it. Listen for yourself:
Notice anything? The whole ad feels a bit… blasphemous. The spiritual language, the Gospel choir, the elevation of his name as greater among anyone else. It’s clear that Nike had specific message they’re trying to get across.
And a lot of people noticed. Fans on Twitter were quick to call out Nike for treating James like God (while still giving James a bit of praise).
Trynna figure out if this is blasphemous or not leaning toward absolutely https://t.co/I8V0enGldt
— ROLLIE WOODS (@456rollie) February 8, 2023
Stop worshipping Idols and blaspheming the name of God. Congrats to Bron though
— SCARFACE (@cmomadeit) February 8, 2023
Many were specifically upset that Nike took a sermon about God and made it about a man.
bro fr..the pastor is evidently speaking about the greatness of God and this sacrilege will just go past so many people’s heads
— rants: sports, comics, pokémon, etc. (@sportcomicfan) February 8, 2023
The voiceover was originally in reference to God? Like a Pastor’s sermon praising the King of kings? If so, then even LeBron should be uncomfortable. https://t.co/nalmKa3L8w
— Analyst (@TheNaijaAnalyst) February 8, 2023
But it turns out, Nike didn’t actually steal anything.
Alonzo Chadwick, the voice behind the “sermon,” set the record straight on Twitter: He recorded the whole thing specifically for the commercial.
Does that make it any better?