--- description: LeBron James laced up for his first home game back with the Cavaliers Thursday night to face off against the New York Knicks. title: LeBron James New Ad Couldn't Help Him Win His First Game Back Home image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Sports](/section/sports/) ## Sports Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Inspirational New LeBron James Ad Couldn't Help Him Win His First Game Back Home  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 31, 2014 1:15 PM CUT  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 31, 2014 1:15 PM CUT LeBron James laced up for [his first home game back with the Cavaliers](http://time.com/3550639/lebron-james-homecoming-loss-with-cavaliers-is-significant-albeit-briefly/ "undefined") on Thursday night to face off against the New York Knicks. An inspirational Nike ad celebrating the city of Cleveland hit the airwaves the same night—but it wasn’t inspirational enough for LeBron, it seems. Cleveland’s prodigal son played dismally in his first game with the Cavs in four years, and the Knicks came out on top, 95-90. Despite the team’s performance, the Nike ad, which celebrates the spirt of Cavs fans and delivers a stirring “all in it together” message, was a widely-discussed success. The ad may not have pushed the Cavs over the top Thursday, but it helps complete LeBron’s return home after his controversial departure four years ago to play for the Miami Heat. Maybe just watch it a few extra times next game, guys? ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3550851/lebron-nike-ad-cleveland/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3550851/lebron-nike-ad-cleveland/"},"headline":"This Inspirational New LeBron James Ad Couldn't Help Him Win His First Game Back Home","datePublished":"2014-10-31T13:15:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:08:56.637Z","description":"Maybe just watch it a few extra times next game, guys?","url":"https://time.com/3550851/lebron-nike-ad-cleveland/","keywords":["Nike","Lebron James","Cleveland"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Denver Nicks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3550851/lebron-nike-ad-cleveland/","name":"This Inspirational New LeBron James Ad Couldn't Help Him Win His First Game Back Home"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch: Together | LeBron James","description":"Watch LeBron James new Nike ad","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/U9RGk13G/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-10-31T12:56:08.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/U9RGk13G.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3550851/lebron-nike-ad-cleveland/","duration":"PT2M15S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3550851/lebron-nike-ad-cleveland/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```