On Wednesday, Pat McAfee aired his exclusive interview with Lakers star LeBron James that had the sports world buzzing with newsworthy comments and candid conversations that will surely be talked about for the rest of the season. But, lost in some of the other viral-worthy content is his admission about his dealings with Nike.

On the February 28th edition of ESPN's First Take, Brian Windhorst alleged that the reason why James signed with Nike was because of basketball legend Michael Jordan.

“He chose to wear 23. He also said I never asked to be the face of the league. Of course he asked to be the face of the league. He signed a $90 million Nike contract. Why? Because of [Michael] Jordan.”

On McAfee's eponymous show, James clarified the record.

“I seen Brian Windhorst on one of these shows not too long ago,” James said. “This guy says he’s like my f***** best friend. These guys are just weird…He went on his show and said ‘Don’t let LeBron fool you. He wears number 23 because of Michael Jordan.’ Ok, that’s a fact. ‘He signed with Nike because of Michael Jordan.’ Like, no the f— I didn’t. I signed with Nike because I got a hell of a signing bonus and they gave me a seven-year, $90 million contract and I moved my mom out of the hood the next day I signed that contract…Like, what are we talking about?”

LeBron James's clarification on why he signed with Nike brings to the table brings to the table Windhorst's own reporting about James's negotiations with sneaker giants Nike, Adidas, and Reebok from his 2019 book LeBron Inc. In the book, Windhorst tells the well-regarded story of a young James, then still a high school basketball phenom, turning down a $100 million contract with a $10 million advance from Reebok.

“At eighteen, even with his whole life in front of him, LeBron said no,” Windhorst penned him his book.

A couple of chapters later, Windhorst details James's negotiations with Nike, as the future first overall pick still had the dollar amount from Reebok in mind as he looked to acrew similar value from Nike for his services.

“LeBron had always envisioned himself wearing Nike and wanted to be a part of their great ad campaigns and work with their designers,” Windhorst said, later in the book reporting that James had signed a seven-year, $77 million contract, which included a $10 million signing bonus, bringing the total value to $87 million.

So, James's comments on McAfee's show appears to be true per Brian Windhorst's own reporting from his book. An interesting development, as James has routinely taken issue with the prognostication that occurs from NBA media that is often rooted more in opinion than fact.