Written By Joe Vardon at Cleveland.com
LeBron James may have swiped a bottle of Great Lakes brew during Monday’s win over the Raptors, but he is by no means an endorser of its products.
Quite the opposite, actually.
James and his associates are upset over Great Lakes Brewing Co.’s use of James likeness to promote Dortmunder Gold and would consider legal action, according to a source close to him.
The reasons are both personal and professional.
In 2010, after James announced he was leaving Cleveland as a free agent for the Miami Heat, Great Lakes Brewing produced, sold at its downtown brewpub “Quitness,” which it said was “a dry hopped India pale ale that leaves a bitter aftertaste, perfectly describing the mood of Cleveland sports fans these days.”
In the fourth quarter of the Cavs’ 116-105 victory over the Toronto Raptors Monday night, James grabbed a bottle of Dortmunder Gold from Great Lakes after he was fouled on a play near the sideline. He took the bottle to his lips but stopped short of taking a sip.
On Tuesday, Great Lakes tweeted a cardboard cutout of James holding the Dortmunder Gold and announced discounts on the beer at the pub. The company has since taken down the Tweet, and later took down a second tweet of James holding the beer with the caption: “G.O.A.T with the G.O.L.D”
It was not immediately clear if Great Lakes had planned anything more. A spokeswoman did not return a phone message seeking comment.
“This is about the last thing I’m trying to worry about right now, my agent and my legal team will take care of it, but yeah I know (Great Lakes) is trying to benefit off of me,” James told cleveland.com. “And I heard they were the same company that made all those ‘Quitness’ beers, and now they’re trying to benefit off me this way? Yeah, it’s pretty funny.”
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