Nike has announced it has named the latest building in its World Headquarters (WHQ) campus expansion after NBA star and Los Angeles Lakers forward, LeBron James.
The company announced on Thursday, September 5, that the LeBron James Building is the sixth new building added to the Beaverton, Oregon campus since the expansion began in 2015, and will house Nike’s Advanced Innovation team, including its state-of-the-art Sport Research Lab.
The team is comprised of “scientists, designers, engineers and more, collectively focusing on inventing the products and services that make all athletes better,” according to Nike’s announcement.
The new lab will be five times the size of the current facility, and among the building’s other amenities are a full NBA-size basketball court, 200-meter track, a 100-meter straightaway and an artificial turf field. There will also be a 500-plus-foot ramp at a 15.63% incline on the outside of the building for athletes to train in lieu of natural hills, Nike said.
Reacting to the good news, James, a four-time NBA MVP, three-time NBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist, who has been a Nike athlete since 2003 wrote on Instagram,
Man this is so surreal! When I got the call this was happening I couldn’t believe it! I was literally shedding tears.
You guys know where I come from but if you don’t I come from the inner city projects, single mother, only child, and statistics would suggest I would never EVER make it out let alone be alive still to tell you about it.
Now I’ll have my own building at the Nike Head World Quarter where my family and I legacy will live on forever.
The home of the Advance Innovation team and new state of the art Nike Sports Research Lab! Everything will get made and lab tested in my building! Like WHAT?!?!? THIS IS BEYOND CRAZY?? I wanna thank Nike once again for taking a chance on a 18 year old kid from Akron, OH. I’m proud to be
