LeBron James has many personal endorsement deals, perhaps too many to keep track of during his daily media conversations.
While answering a question about when in his career he decided to take health and fitness more seriously, James accidentally made a negative comment about McDonald’s -- a company that sponsors him personally.
From Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com:In making a point about how he became more serious about taking care of his body as he grew older, LeBron James said he “ate McDonald’s” as a teenage rookie with the Cleveland Cavaliers. ...
It happened today, when James was asked before shootaround for tonight’s road game against the Detroit Pistons how old he was when he became serious about lifting weights.
James replied: “Umm, 24. I ate McDonald’s my first couple years in the NBA. I didn’t stretch. It didn’t matter. I was 18 and I could do whatever I wanted to.”
Perhaps sensing the mistake, James recovered when he was asked later when he last ate at McDonald’s.
“Every day. Every day. Every day,” James said, drawing laughter from reporters. “I had it this morning. Egg and sausage McMuffin. All day.”
I’ve wondered about this particular sponsorship deal for a while now, considering just how seriously LeBron has begun to take care of his body. He slimmed down significantly this past summer, remember, and not that long ago, his wife opened an organic juice bar in Miami.
McDonald’s as a corporation is not naive about the way it’s perceived as one of the least healthy fast food options around. But they’d probably rather not have one of their premier endorsers alluding to that fact while the microphones are on.
[via SLAM]