Coca-Cola & Nike — Early Work with LeBron
Sometimes the work finds the athlete at exactly the right moment.
That was the case with LeBron James.
I first worked with LeBron at Coca-Cola, helping shape creative for the Sprite brand just as he was becoming the most talked-about young player in basketball.
One of the most distinctive projects was Sublymonal, created with Crispin Porter + Bogusky.
The campaign leaned into the idea of subliminal messaging—embedding Sprite’s lemon-lime identity inside strange, surreal films filled with hidden visual clues and digital Easter eggs. The work encouraged fans to rewatch, decode, and share what they discovered online.
Playful.
Unexpected.
Built for the internet before most brands were thinking that way.
Next, I crossed paths with LeBron again—this time at Nike Basketball.
One of the defining pieces was “Chalk.”
Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Mark Romanek, whose work includes the films One Hour Photo and Never Let Me Go, as well as some of the most celebrated music videos ever made—including Johnny Cash’s “Hurt,” Jay-Z’s “99 Problems,” and Michael and Janet Jackson’s “Scream.”
The film centers on LeBron’s iconic pregame chalk toss ritual.
But the idea goes further.
The gesture spreads.
A baker tossing flour in a kitchen.
A student throwing chalk in a classroom.
A barber dusting powder in the air.
Across everyday moments, the same motion appears—showing how the passion of one athlete can ripple far beyond the court.
The spot also features Lil Wayne, who appears brushing chalk off his shoe—a moment critics later called part of Romanek’s “mini-masterpiece” of a Nike commercial.
The result felt bigger than a product launch.
It captured the moment when LeBron’s presence was beginning to shape the culture around the game itself.
And sometimes, that’s the real story worth telling.