According to Nike co-founder Phil Knight, he admitted he hesitated heavily putting the Kaepernick ad up at first. The controversial Colin Kaepernick ad that took the world by storm, might have gone up partly because of LeBron James.
"Parker looked at it and went, 'Gulp,'" Knight said, according to Bill Snyder of Fast Company. "And they said, 'Well, here's the deal. If we're going to get this in time for the campaign, you've got 24 hours.'"
Knight ended up approving it because of a conversation he had with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James weeks earlier in which he expressed concern over his grandsons getting their driver's licenses. James says he was also worried about his son starting to drive and the fear of being murdered by a police officer.
As for the reaction to the Kaepernick ad, Knight said he isn't bothered by it at all and is confident that it was the right decision:
"You can't try and go down the middle of the road. You have to take a stand on something, which is ultimately I think why the Kaepernick ad worked."
Photo: Getty Images