{"id":288277,"date":"2013-04-12T21:57:16","date_gmt":"2013-04-13T02:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/?p=288277"},"modified":"2018-05-14T04:57:40","modified_gmt":"2018-05-14T08:57:40","slug":"start-em-young-8-teenage-athletes-that-scored-sneaker-deals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/start-em-young-8-teenage-athletes-that-scored-sneaker-deals\/","title":{"rendered":"Start &#8217;em Young: 8 Teenage Athletes That Scored Sneaker Deals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Most teenagers spend their high school years hanging out at the mall, playing video games, and watching MTV. Some teens, however, are out there getting the big bucks from sneaker brands. With 14-year-old Guan Tianlang making waves in the US Masters, we take a look back at teenage athletes that scored big endorsement deals from shoe brands.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>Andre Agassi<\/h2>\n image via?SI Vault\n<p><strong>Age:<\/strong> 18<br \/>\n<strong>Brand:<\/strong> Nike<\/p>\n<p>Andre Agassi stands as one of the most iconic athletes in tennis history. Incredible talent and rock star style made him a standout in his early days, <a title=\"ESPN\" href=\"http:\/\/sports.espn.go.com\/sports\/tennis\/news\/story?id=2116135\" target=\"_blank\">signing with Nike<\/a> shortly after turning pro at the age of 16. His signature shoes and flashy apparel changed the game of tennis and opened new doors for the dress code of the game.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>Michael Chang<\/h2>\n image via <a title=\"wikimedia\" href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Michael_Chang.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">Wikimedia<\/a>\n<p><strong>Age:<\/strong> 17<br \/>\n<strong>Brand:<\/strong> Reebok<\/p>\n<p>Turning pro at age 15, Michael Chang served as on the brightest and most influential stars in tennis during the late ?80s and early ?90s. Chang?s top tennis moment came in 1989 when he won the French Open at age 17. As a teenager, Chang made the decision to sign a deal with <a title=\"People\" href=\"http:\/\/www.people.com\/people\/archive\/article\/0,,20120407,00.html\" target=\"_blank\">Reebok with help from his family<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>Kevin Garnett<\/h2>\n image via?SI Vault\n<p><strong>Age:<\/strong> 19<br \/>\n<strong>Brand:<\/strong> Nike<\/p>\n<p>Kevin Garnett made history in 1995, becoming the first high schooler to go straight to the pros in two decades. At the time, Garnett was only 19-years-old. He signed with Nike early on, wearing Air Jordans, Uptempos, and later his own signature line.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>The Williams Sisters<\/h2>\n image via?SI Vault\n<p><strong>Age:<\/strong> Venus (15), Serena (16)<br \/>\n<strong>Brand:<\/strong> Venus (Reebok), Serena (Puma)<\/p>\n<p>At the age of 15, Venus Williams signed a $12 million dollar deal with Reebok, followed by a $40 million dollar contract with the brand four years later. Her younger sister Serena <a title=\"ESPN\" href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.go.com\/sportsbusiness\/s\/2003\/0202\/1503084.html\" target=\"_blank\">signed with Puma<\/a> at 16 for a five-year deal that was eventually worth $13 million.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>Kobe Bryant<\/h2>\n image via?SI Vault\n<p><strong>Age:<\/strong> 17<br \/>\n<strong>Brand:<\/strong> adidas<\/p>\n<p>Prior to landing with the Lakers, Kobe Bryant signed a six-year, $48 million dollar deal with adidas. The high school phenom was set to <a title=\"Philly\" href=\"http:\/\/articles.philly.com\/1996-05-17\/sports\/25624618_1_adidas-bryant-family-college-basketball\" target=\"_blank\">endorse the Feet You Wear<\/a> line, and was the first of many prep stars to sign with the Three Stripes.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>Tracy McGrady<\/h2>\n image via <a title=\"nba-live\" href=\"http:\/\/forums.nba-live.com\/viewtopic.php?f=149&amp;t=90018&amp;start=100\" target=\"_blank\">nba-live<\/a>\n<p><strong>Age:<\/strong> 18<br \/>\n<strong>Brand:<\/strong> adidas<\/p>\n<p>One year after Kobe, adidas signed Tracy McGrady to a <a title=\"Orlando Sentinel\" href=\"http:\/\/articles.orlandosentinel.com\/2002-05-02\/news\/0205020127_1_adidas-shoes-tracy-mcgrady-deal-with-adidas\" target=\"_blank\">six-year, $12 million dollar deal<\/a>. Like KB8, T-Mac shined at the brand?s ABCD camp. McGrady also wore adidas as a prep at Mt. Zion Academy and later signed a lifetime deal with the brand in 2002.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>Freddy Adu<\/h2>\n image via <a title=\"Project2010\" href=\"http:\/\/project-2010.net\/transfer-news\/freddy-adu-loaned-to-rizespor\/\" target=\"_blank\">Project 2010<\/a>\n<p><strong>Age:<\/strong> 14<br \/>\n<strong>Brand:<\/strong> Nike<\/p>\n<p>Soccer stars have long gone pro early overseas. Freddy Adu made history in the states by joining the MLS at only 14 and <a title=\"ESPN\" href=\"http:\/\/espn.go.com\/sportsbusiness\/s\/2003\/1119\/1665998.html\" target=\"_blank\">signing a Nike deal<\/a> worth $1 million.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>LeBron James<\/h2>\n image via SI Vault\n<p><strong>Age:<\/strong> 18<br \/>\n<strong>Brand:<\/strong> Nike<\/p>\n<p>A seven-year, <a title=\"Yahoo!\" href=\"http:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/nba\/news?slug=ys-cnbclebronnike033110\" target=\"_blank\">$93 million contract<\/a> made LeBron James one of Nike?s highest paid athletes before even playing in an NBA game. Signing the deal at 18, LeBron has remained with Nike and his kicks continue to sell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most teenagers spend their high school years hanging out at the mall, playing video games, and watching MTV. Some teens,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2415,"featured_media":288551,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[618],"tags":[],"cultivate_rss":[],"class_list":{"2":"type-post"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.0 (Yoast SEO v24.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Start &#039;em Young: 8 Teenage Athletes That Scored Sneaker Deals | Snkrs Day<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Where to buy Start &#039;em Young: 8 Teenage Athletes That Scored Sneaker Deals shoes. 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