?Our Athletes Can Take the Heat?: $19 Billion Worth Energy Drink Company Aimed a Sly Dig at Heat Star LeBron James After Infamous Incident in 2014

LeBron James and his path to Billion dollars was slow but steady. Making him the only active basketball player in history to become a Billionaire. Some huge endorsement deals over the years played a huge part in his financial success. Back in 2014, the then-Miami Heat superstar was sponsored by many companies, one of them being Powerade. And his 2014 NBA finals game 1 exit due to leg cramps made fans sarcastically question his choice of energy drinks.

However, the fan made a slight mistake when trolling James. The fan trolled the wrong sponsor. As Gatorade sponsored other Heat players, the fan trolled Gatorade in presumption. Resulting in a savage reply by the company.?

Gatorade?s sly dig at LeBron James in 2014

LeBron James was on one of his peak performances on his way to the 2014 NBA Finals, before his team fell short. The San Antonio Spurs brushed aside the Miami Heat 4-1 to flaunt their fifth franchise title. But the first game had King James cramping after scoring 25 points. In the fourth quarter, the Heat superstar had to bow out making it one of the reasons the team lost the game.?

READ MORE: LeBron James? Family Shows Up in Support of Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union at the ?Strange World? Premiere

The fan called out Gatorade for James’ cramp, only for it to backfire.?Gatorade hit back to remind the fan that they weren?t sponsoring the superstar. ?The person cramping wasn?t our client,? tweeted the $19 Billion company. ?Our athletes can take the heat.??

When an athlete reaches a stage like the NBA, there?s no shortage of brand deals that come their way. Powerade was the sponsor of James as he reached his fifth NBA Final in 2014. And Gatorade?s tweet was one example of business competitors getting the better of each other on social media. Nowadays it’s common for brands to engage in banter on social media to increase their outreach and also go viral.

LeBron is now currently not sponsored by Powerade anymore as he signed a deal with the parent company of Gatorade, PepsiCo.

In the 2014 NBA finals, James was the top scorer for four of the five games he played, and averaged 28.2 points per game. However, he was not able to stop the experienced San Antonio Spurs.

Watch This Story: Lebron James biggest losses after the Lakers’ 47 points preseason embarrassment

His move to the Cleveland Cavaliers following that started another rivalry with the Golden State Warriors for half a decade.