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LeBron James’s shoe deal with Nike may be worth more than $1 billion, his agent Maverick Carter hinted to GQ in a recent interview.
GQ pressed Carter to disclose the value of the deal, but Carter never specified an exact dollar amount. However when the interviewer asked whether Kanye West’s comment that the deal was worth $1 billion was accurate, Carter just smiled and pointed upward.
“It’s a fantastic deal,” Carter told GQ. “Nike feels great about the deal. That’s the most important thing. As great as I feel, as great as LeBron feels—Nike feels fantastic about it. It’s the largest deal in the history of the company. Their hope is he makes even more. And our hope is that, too, obviously.”
James signed the lifetime contact with Nike in December. The deal was reported as the largest single athlete guarantee in the sports apparel company’s history and was negotiated by Paul Wachter, who helped sell Beats by Dre to Apple for $3 billion.
James has been a Nike athlete since the global sportswear giant offered him a seven-year contract worth approximately $90 million with incentives before the 2003 NBA draft lottery.
