Lebron James – Lesson in Make or Break Moments

Guess we won’t be seeing Lebron in this uniform again. Let me start by saying that I’m not a basketball fan. If I had to pick a sport and lawn bowling wasn’t an option then baseball would be my pick.  There is something so boring about watching a bunch of guys in shorts run to one end of the room and then back over and over and over.

But as a resident of Northeast Ohio, even I would have to be living under a rock to not be aware of the drama being played out with the Cavaliers and Lebron James.

Last week after an hour long (longest hour in the history of television?) special on ESPN he made the announcement that he’d be leaving Ohio and headed for sunny Florida. 

A lot had to have weighed into his decision. The color of the uniform. Plenty of oranges. Sunshine rather than the midwest clouds. Who knows – but for sure it was a make or break moment for Lebron and his relationship with his customers – the fans of basketball.

Leslie Ungar, professional coach, has recapped the situation beautifully in her open letter to Lebron in which she outlines the 5 reasons his decision won’t make him happy.

1. He made it public
2. He dissed his owner
3. He didn’t do it right
4. He won’t be “the man” anymore
5. He didn’t own his decision

The question from the customer’s perspective is this: did Lebron put himself in the shoes of his customers or was the decision based solely on his needs and his goals.  You may say that as a professional sports celebrity – he should have only considered himself. If that is the case, I wonder – what will be the long term affect with the fans? Will people forget that his ego seemed to shine brighter than his gifts to the industry?

Make or break moments are those times when we have the opportunity to build a relationship with our customers or times when we do something that harms that relationship forever.

Which has happened with Lebron? Time will tell but as a resident from Ohio, the buzz around here says it will be long time before people forget this particular make or break moment.