By Dave Zirin

Dear LeBron:

At the tender age of 22, you have the galactic talent to make us wonder if a mad scientist had Magic and MJ genetically spliced. But talent ain't wisdom. In a recent interview, you said that your goal in sports was to become "the richest man on earth." You also told ESPN, "I'm trying to be a global icon...on the level of Muhammad Ali." These dreams are compatible only if you choose to emulate Ali the icon and not Ali the man.

LeBron James
Cleveland Cavaliers

Dear Mr. James:

Congratulations on your continued success as one of the NBA’s elite players. Perhaps basketball fans across the world will be able to watch you and the Cavs in the Finals very soon.

As someone who participates in many generous charitable activities, we hope you will be responsive to this appeal.

[*UPDATE* NBA Commissioner David Stern has announced that the old-style basketballs will return January 1, 2007 and be used through the remainder of the season. "Our players' response to this particular composite ball has been consistently negative, and we are acting accordingly," Stern said in a brief statement.]

As the NBA season gets underway, League of Fans would like to draw attention to the efforts of Stephon Marbury of the New York Knicks for the introduction of his new $15 sneaker, the Starbury One, which he will wear on the court during games.

As Business Week reports:
"'Two hundred to buy a pair of sneakers,' Marbury says, 'that's groceries for the week.' He wants Starbury One's low price to show kids how little it costs to make a high-quality sneaker. 'History is going to say Stephon Marbury changed the game,' he says."

Carter Strickland of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports on the commercial takeover of college and university athletic departments by Nike, and other apparel companies:

"Being new to Bulldog Nation, Matthew Stafford wasn't braced for the reaction when he sauntered onto the University of Georgia practice fields a few weeks ago dressed in an offensive T-shirt. Go Gators? I Love Spurrier? Nope, it was even worse. 'He's got on Reebok,' Mark Richt yelled to the other Georgia football coaches. He sent the star freshman ... back to the locker room for a change of clothes."

Dave Zirin and Derek Tyner reveal in a column for The Nation that Major League Baseball is finally starting to hear the cries of worker's rights activists.

Back in 2004, in response to reports of poor labor practices in factories that produce "official" Major League Baseball licensed goods, Ralph Nader and League of Fans sent a letter to MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and Players Association Executive Director Donald Fehr asking that they adopt internationally recognized worker rights standards as a condition governing all of their product sourcing and licensing agreements. The response was lukewarm.

With the 2006 FIFA World Cup fast approaching and with global sports brands cranking up their advertising to take advantage, the global poverty aid organization Oxfam International released a worker's rights report on May 24 explaining:

League of Fans

Good Sports
- Commissioner of Baseball Shows Commitment to Stopping Performance-Enhancing Drug Use

Bad Sports
- Adidas, Reebok Overstepping Commercial Bounds by Interfering with Sports


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