So I’m at the Wynn Hotel in Vegas, with some other assembled media and some pretty hostesses in headdresses, all chilling on a terrace that overlooks a European pool (a.k.a. “topless if you want”), downing hors d’oeuvres and free drinks while a huge yellow Roman numeral “V” presides over the whole thing. After a while, the announcement comes:

“He’s here.”

The “He” in question is LeBron James, and being that this is the unveiling of the Nike Zoom LeBron V sneakers, he’s the man of the moment. We all go inside the Wynn to a room that can only be described as a dimly-lit LeBron shrine: framed photos of ‘Bron line the walls, and there’s a podium in the front of the room with another “V” on it that displays a pair of the kicks under a spotlight. The folks at Nike definitely went all out for this one; the set-up was sick.

The big “V”

After everyone gets seated (in individual black leather mini-couches), LeBron and sneaker designer Ken Link come in and sit at the podium to talk about the inspiration behind the new design — which is basically an homage to LeBron’s upbringing and his love for the game. The main feature everyone was feeling was the map of Akron, Ohio, on the shoe. That was inspired by 6th-grade ‘Bron vowing to put his hometown on the map some day.

During the Q&A portion, LeBron had his standup act going. At first, when the floor was opened up for questions and no one spoke right away, ‘Bron shrugged “Oh, this is easy” and started to get up like he was leaving. When Link was talking about the technical performance aspects of the LeBron v, ‘Bron cut in: “A lot of the words he’s using are college words. Behind closed doors he uses high school words so I can understand.” When I asked LeBron if players compare signature kicks, and he said, “It wouldn’t be fair. It’s not right … because my shoe is better than everyone else’s.” When someone asked, “Why would Kid LeBron by these shoes?” LeBron answered, “Because his name is on them.” And finally, when trying to describe how meticulous he is about looking good on the court, ‘Bron left it at: “I’m kinda crazy. I’m nuts.”

I’m not a sneaker expert by any means, but I think the LeBron Vs are hot. We saw about four different colorways on Tuesday, but there will be more to come. Ohio State will be rocking the LeBron Vs this season just like they wore the IVs last season (”We’re not doing a Greg Oden one-and-done with Ohio State,” LeBron cracked), and LeBron’s alma mater St. Vincent-St. Mary’s H.S. will also be outfitted in his signature kicks and gear.

After the media session, everyone heads back outside to the terrace, where poker tables are set up. LeBron sat down for a few hands, but the 100-degree-plus heat seemed to be too much. Not long after getting down to his beater and shorts, he bounced.

After the sneaker unveiling, we were treated to a steak dinner courtesy of the Swoosh at the swank SW Steakhouse while watching the Yankees get slaughtered on a huge flatscreen, where Nike gave us all LeBron poker sets — complete with chips sporting “V” one one side and LeBron’s logo on the other side.

Waiting for the car back to the Palms hotel, I bumped into a few Team USA guys: Dwight Howard and his crew climbed out of one limo, then ‘Melo and Deron Williams (w/ crew) hoped out of another limo. Back at the Palms, I ran into Carlos Arroyo and some of the Puerto Rican national squad. And in another NBA-related sighting, earlier in the day I ended up in the same elevator with David Blaine. But even though I wanted more magnets, he didn’t give me more magnets.

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