Who needs a presidential library?
Nike opened the “LeBron James Innovation Center” at their global headquarters. The monster space is 750,000-square-foot and includes an NBA-size court, a soccer field, and a track. It also includes 400 motion-capture cameras. 84,000 square feet dedicated to sports research. 825 pieces of testing equipment. 80+ new prototyping machines.
James talked about how it felt to have a place named for him.
“Over the course of my career and my time here at Nike, for all of this to come together is surreal. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense to me, but I’m definitely honored. Having my name on the Innovation building feels very fitting because I’m always trying to figure out ways I can continue to innovate and continue to break the timeline of what they say is your prime.”
The center also uses 100% renewable electricity. It is of course located at Nike’s central headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon.
The equipment used is so state-of-the-art that whenever an athlete uses it, Nike can begin work on a prototype immediately after the assessment. Via Complex, Matt Nurse, Vice President, Nike Explore Team Sport Research Lab, was happy to have LeBron James on board from the beginning.
“We hosted him in the NSRL at that time. We started showing him our capabilities, we took some basic measurements on him at the time. And if you look at how we’ve evolved and how he has evolved over the last two decades, our paths have really been in parallel.”
James now joins Serena Williams and Michael Jordan as athletes with their own building at Nike headquarters.
