LeBron James at a Los Angeles Lakers press conference in California last month. — AFP Relaxnews
Sportswear company Nike has agreed a sponsorship deal with top-ranked League Of Legends player Jian Zi-Hao, who will work with basketball star LeBron James on a new piece of clothing design.
LeBron James already runs a "Dribble &" Nike shirt line, and professional Chinese video game player Jian "Uzi" Zi-Hao is on board to help design a new one.
Zi-Hao, who currently plays for League Of Legends team Royal Never Give Up, is Nike's first eSports signing and will see "Dribble & Carry" – a reference to a crucial team role – appear on a new "Dribble &" spin-off.
Nike cited LeBron James as one of Zi-Hao's inspirations in its announcement on Chinese social media site Weibo.
Royal Never Give Up has strung together four top-tier tournament wins in 2018, with Zi-Hao being named Most Valued Player at two of them.
The original Chinese-language announcement came on Oct 17, during the League Of Legends World Championship, before being more widely circulated by English-language site dotesports.com and then this week through IGN.
Royal Never Give Up made it to the League Of Legends quarter-final stage before being knocked on Oct 20. – AFP Relaxnews
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