Lebron James Decision Plays into “Even Bad PR is Good” Debate

Last week was interesting not only for sports but some might argue that pop culture was impacted too.

I’m referring to NBA superstar Lebron James choosing to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers.  And the indicator that people outside of basketball – heck, outside of sports – were interested was the reactions posted on social media by celebrities not connected to the game that “The King” plays.

As surprised as many were by the 42-year-old choosing to go to Philly and not Cleveland or Miami, let’s not overlook a social media fumble by the latter franchise.  Full disclosure, being in Tampa I root for both the Orlando Magic and the Miami Heat.  If I were forced to pick between the two, I would probably say Miami.  So, I’m admitting that they messed up, even though that’s my team.

In case you weren’t following along, something went out that they later said was just a test they were putting in place in case Lebron chose to sign with them.  It was a YouTube post for an introductory/welcome press conference the Heat would do if the future Hall of Famer chose to come back to the team he played for more than ten years ago.

When the debate about “good PR versus bad PR” comes up and some say, “Even bad PR is good because at least they’re talking about you,” I can’t agree with that right across the board.  There have to be exceptions.

The Heat letting that leak out is a bad look for not only their PR staff, but the higher-ups and the basketball department had to have been quite, quite perturbed.  Heck, imagine Lebron hearing that and wincing.  “What?!”  I’m sure he might’ve even said more than that.

Now, if you’re a PR person and your CEO gets arrested, imagine trying to spin that with, “Hey, at least they’re going to be talking about us.”  No.  They’re going to be talking about you for all the wrong reasons.  In fact, people very well might decide to no longer do business with the company because of the CEO’s wrongdoing.

In the 1990s the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres moved into a new arena and the jumbotron fell to the floor from the rafters and crashed, as in, it broke apart.  Is that bad PR?  Well, you can’t fault the team (organization).  No one got hurt.  It happened when no event was taking place.  Here, you would look at either the company that made the jumbotron and/or whoever installed it.  And then you say, “Oh!  I wonder how much that hurt their business?!”  But here’s the thing.  It’s a massive jumbotron.  It’s not eggs that they sell countless dozens of every day.  How much does one accident really affect their sales?  Then again, even losing one sale would, in fact, hurt.

Do you see how there’s not a cut and dry answer?  Then again, I repeat that that’s why my answer is that there is no obvious yes or no.

Let’s get back to the Miami Heat.  Fans love NBA games and are not going to stop buying tickets because of a stray social media post.  They might be disappointed that their franchise didn’t win the free agent sweepstakes to get Lebron James.  But they’re going to attend anyway (especially since they had already landed Giannis Antetokounmpo in a blockbuster trade).

If you’re an indie author and word gets out that you plagiarized someone else’s work, readers are not going to run right out to buy your book(s) to see it firsthand.  It’s 2026 so they’ll read the news story on their phone and move on with their day – staying away from anything you’ve written.  People will be talking about you, but for all the wrong reasons that will not result in sales.

We’re going to see some variation of this when it comes to AI usage, unfortunately, as much as writers might insist that they don’t like and won’t use the technology.  I believe that, but there’s always a group of people that think they won’t get caught or feel they’ve outsmarted the system.  If they go public with that view once they get caught, that will be pouring salt on the wounds, and the bad PR will get even worse.

Sports talk show host Jim Rome has said that nothing good happens after midnight.  So, heed that warning and steer clear of something that could potentially lead to bad PR and that way you won’t have to find out if “at least they’re talking about me” ends up benefiting you or not.

I don’t know what punishment was handed down against the Heat employee that inadvertently put up the Lebron James press conference on YouTube post, but rest assured, you want to learn from that and have checks and balances in place so that you and your business, product, or service achieve the desired result and good PR – not a public shaming.

A Member of the Recording Academy, I have been helping indie music artists, authors, actors, entrepreneurs, podcasters, filmmakers, small business owners, and more for over twenty years.  What challenges are you having in your creator career that I can lend some insight to?  Connect with me so you can take advantage of all my experience, and I can help and keep you moving forward.