Matt Varga Nike has always made their bones off of pulling from every corner of culture and pairing that with their spirit of invention and innovation. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t any relationships soured in the process.
As any of our dedicated readership will likely know by now, Nike has been celebrating LeBron James with heavy storytelling efforts surrounding the LeBron 23, revisiting 23 individual moments from his illustrious career. Fittingly, the final stop in that “world tour” was Miami, revisiting the moment that James was finally able to add a championship ring to his already stacked trophy case. The title for that shoe is the “Dreams and Nightmares,” literally calling out the various insults levied at The King for being ringless and the ultimate joy of securing that goal. In more metaphorical terms, it was a call-out to the now-infamous line of Meek Mill’s song of the same name: “I used to pray for times like this,” now an indelible part of the cultural lexicon.
Evidently, the Philadelphia MC wasn’t pleased with Nike’s use of his work. He took to X on May 26th to voice his frustrations:
So @nike just gone take my whole brand and mash it up with LeBron … what is this … why wouldn’t anybody holler at me about this? I thought the sneaks was fake? Wassup with this? – Meek Mill via Twitter
Some sleuthing by @ModernNotoriety and by @SneakerLegal reveals that this is more than just some online griping by Mill; his Dream Chaser Records, Inc. currently has trademark applications for “Dreams and Nightmares” pending. Yet as the former notes, these applications were filed on May 18th, a full 14 years after the record was originally released and likely later than would be necessary to seek damages from Beaverton.
Further, as some commenters have already pointed out, the simple phrasing of both the shoe and song means Meek’s ownership is already on tenuous grounds. Where he may have a better case is in the associated apparel. The “band tee” dropped alongside the LeBron 23 makes rather obvious use of the artwork for his Dreamchasers 3 mixtape, using the same Twoface concept, splitting between LeBron’s face and that of a lion.
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