Like many other Americans last night, I watched “The Decision”, an hour long special on Lebron James big announcement on which team he would be playing for next season. Now in case you’ve been under a rock for the last week or so, I’ll explain: NBA Star and Cleveland Cavaliers player, Lebron James became a free agent. He made the decision to make his big announcement to the world on ESPN last night.

Let me be the first to say that I am not an NBA fan. However, last night I managed to pull myself away from my favorite Thursday night reality show because I couldn’t resist tuning into ESPN to watch the big announcement.

I must admit…this was a great publicity stunt. This was the first time in history that an announcement like this had been made in such a way. There has been a lot of controversy over whether or not this was a good decision for James. I think that only time can tell if this will help or hurt his brand. But focusing only on the publicity for the Lebron James brand, ESPN and the other sponsors involved, the program was successful.

The James’ camp built hype leading up to the airing of the program and the show was said to be one of the highest rated non-sports events on ESPN. Also, buzz quickly began on the social networks and took over the Trending Topics list on Twitter and mentioned frequently on Facebook. James himself  joined Twitter a few days prior to the announcement which also made headlines in media outlets. And to add to James’ image, he committed to donating 100% of the ad dollars to the Boys and Girls Club.

Bleacherreport.com even listed James in the “The 10 Best Athlete Publicity Stunts of All Time” article along with Ocho Cinco’s name change, Dennis Rodman marrying himself and the never ending Terrell Owens’ stunts. Definitely an article worth the read.

James announced he would be going to the Miami Heat, so welcome to the South Lebron.

I’m just ready for football season

-Danielle K.

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