Lakers News: LeBron James Fetes Opening Of His Own Building On Nike Campus
Los Angeles Lakers small forward LeBron James just keeps opening cool buildings. We're into it. After first being announced last year, it looks like Nike's new research facility, the LeBron James Innovation Center, has now opened and can begin innovating posthaste!
Earlier this month, James touched down at the Nike company headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon to attend the official "grand opening" of the building named after him. Champagne bottles were popped:
The LeBron James Innovation Center is a 750,000-square-foot foot research facility. The Innovation Center houses a regulation-size basketball court, a faux-turf training pitch, a soccer field and a track.
We first mentioned the center upon its announcement last fall. During that window, Brendan Dunne of Complex took a look at the space.
The 84,000-square-foot Nike Sport Research Lab occupies the building's cantilevered top floor, loaded with 400 motion-capture cameras. "The NSRL is the epicenter of where we work with athletes of all abilities, all backgrounds, all skills and all sports,” VP of the Nike Explore Team Sport Research Lab Dr. Matthew Nurse said in a Nike statement about the release.
James has of course been in business with Nike for the better part of two decades, having signed on with the pioneering sportswear brand after turning pro in 2003 straight out of Catholic prep school St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron, Ohio. The 18-time All-Star is set to launch his 20th unique sneaker with the brand at some point next month, ahead of the start of his 20th NBA season.
