Aaron Gordon with his new 361 Degrees sneaker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nKevin Love – Left Nike For 361 Degrees, 2011<\/h2>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wmBMCMgdLeg<\/p>\n
Kevin loves to flip-flop between sneaker brands. Since entering the league in 2008, Love has rocked Nike and 361… then Nike again.<\/p>\n
In 2011, while playing for the ‘Wolves, Kevin Love signed a multi-year deal of his own with 361 after three years with Nike. The deal included multiple PEs and his own signature shoe – The Kevin Love 1 (no lie, Love’s 361 Degrees PE from ASW 2015 were kinda fire). By 2015 Kevin aborted his 361 mission and re-signed with Nike. A no-brainer move to anyone in the sneaker community. It’s been that Swoosh-life ever since for Mr. Love.<\/p>\nKevin Love in his Nike Hyperdunk 2017 PE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nKawhi Leonard – Left Jordan Brand For New Balance, 2018<\/h2>\nLeonard in his Air Jordan 31 PE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWhat kind of guy leaves Jordan Brand, seriously? A fun guy, that’s who. Longtime Jordan-head Kawhi Leonard (dating back to his SDSU days) enjoyed countless Jumpan PEs, you know, living the life most of us dream of, but it wasn’t enough.<\/p>\n
Leonard used his relocation from San Antonio to Toronto as an opportunity to expand his brand within the highly internationalized Canadian city. In a move that surprised everyone, Kawhi ditched Jordan Brand for New Balance. It’s funny because NB hadn’t been a player in the performance basketball category in nearly a decade.<\/p>\n
Proving that timing is\u00a0<\/em>everything, Leonard delivered the Raptors their first-ever NBA Championship while wearing his brand new NB signature shoe, the OMN1s. Weird New Balance flex, but okay, it was a good move. Kawhi’s NB stock will continue to rise with the help of Hollywood (once the league starts again, wahhh).<\/p>\nLeonard in the New Balance OMN1s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nDwyane Wade – Left Jordan Brand For Li-Ning (WoW), 2012<\/h2>\nD-Wade with MJ and the Air Jordan 2010<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nCertain players in the league are cut from a different cloth, and D-Wade was one of those players. Throughout his career, Wade wore Converse, Jordan Brand, and most notably Li-Ning.<\/p>\n
The Heat legend’s time with Jordan was an odd one that included two signature shoes under the FlyWade banner. At the time of signing everything seemed great. The Chicago kid signed with the Chicagoan Savior (MJ), cool, but rumor has it that Dwyane wasn’t thrilled after his ill-received FlyWade 2.<\/p>\n
Li-Ning swooped in and Godfather’ed Dwyane with an offer he couldn’t refuse. Not only did Wade receive a signature shoe, but he was able to start an entire line dubbed Way of Wade (WoW). Honestly, the line is fire and touts eight different models. Wade’s line continues to grow, and he even managed to sign our next athlete too.<\/p>\nD-Wade in the Li-Ning Way Of Wade 7<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nD’Angelo Russell – Left Nike For Li-Ning (WoW), 2019<\/h2>\nKAT and D-Lo in a Nike ad<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nD-Lo. D’Angelo. “Talks 2 Much.” Whatever you call the Wolves star is Gucci, just make sure you respect his game. D-Wade recognized game last year when he successfully signed sneaker free-agent D’Angelo Russell.<\/p>\n
Pegging a landing spot for Russell was tough as a long-time member of the Nike family (dating back to his prep school days). Many assumed he’d resign with the Swoosh. But when you look at Nike’s existing signature roster and D’Angelo’s bravado, it became apparent that D wanted more. WoW offers Russell the ability to release a signature shoe, act as the face of the brand and usher in a new era of D-Wade’s footwear legacy. We’re excited to see what D-Lo accomplishes in Minnesota with WoW on-foot.<\/p>\nRussell with his new boss, D-Wade, and the WoW 9<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nTony Parker – Left Nike For PEAK, 2013<\/h2>\nEarly Nike Battlegrounds ad with Tony Parker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nTony Parker’s a first-ballot modern HOF’er without any sneaker cred – how does that happen? The multiple-time NBA Champion showed out early in his career with tough Nike PEs (Zoom 2k3, 2k4, etc.), and he even rocked a pseudo-Nike signature shoe via the Zoom Flight Club.<\/p>\n
In the midst of the 2013 NBA Season, Parker signed a lucrative deal with PEAK for up to 4 million a year. Like D-Wade, Tony’s departure from Nike surprised most in the sneaker community as PEAK [and Li-Ning] wasn’t taken seriously by the majority of North American consumers. PEAK went on to release nine TP signature shoes with Parker until the long-time Spur’s retirement last season. Good move? Who knows. But remember, Euros don’t lie.<\/p>\nAd for Tony Parker’s PEAK TP4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nKlay Thompson – Left Nike For ANTA, 2017<\/h2>\nKlay Thompson in his Nike Hyperdunk 2012 PE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe most interesting man in the world, better known as Klay Thompson, secured the bag in 2017 when he signed a lucrative endorsement deal with ANTA. San Francisco offers unique endorsement opportunities when compared to other markets due to it’s direct visibility to Asia’s foreign markets, and Klay’s deal is a perfect example of that.<\/p>\n
ANTA, being a Chinese brand, has a much easier time marketing Klay internationally as his popularity is highest in a city with a largely diverse cultural makeup. If Klay played in OKC, then this deal wouldn’t work – cus, you know, “if it doesn’t make dollars, then it doesn’t make sense.” Power to both Thompson and ANTA because the shoes haven’t been half bad, and they’ve delivered a stack of quality viral moments together.<\/p>\nThe Anta KT1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nKemba Walker – Left Under Armour For Jordan Brand, 2015<\/h2>\nKemba in the UA ClutchFit Drive<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe glow-up was real when Kemba Walker left Under Armour for Jordan Brand. Cardiac Kemba made a name for himself at U-Conn with Js on his feet, so his partnership with UA straight out of college always felt a little off. We’re talking pre-Steph Under Armour, a time in which the brand’s best NBA athlete was Brandon Jennings. Adding Kemba to the roster definitely helped bolster UA, but what did it do for Walker’s brand? Not much.<\/p>\n
“Jumping ship” for Jordan Brand worked in Kemba’s favor on two levels:<\/p>\n
\nJordan Brand’s direct connection with his employer at the time – the Charlotte Hornets.<\/li>\n Walker’s well-known affinity to retro Jordans like the Air Jordan 12 “Cherry”<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nKemba gets some of the toughest Jordan PEs and Jumpman gets a high caliber All-Star stud \u2014 money.<\/p>\n Kemba in the Air Jordan 12 ‘OVO’\n
Others like Portland’s CJ McCullum, the Celtic’s Gordon Hayward, Rajon Rondo and DeMarcus Cousins left Nike for various brands – we didn’t forget about ’em. Which athlete did we leave off the list that you remember switching sneaker brands? Let us know in the comments section below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sneaker deals \u2014 an NBA tradition since Bob Cousy and PF Flyers in the 1950s. When young guns enter the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":328325,"featured_media":929746,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1225701,1225575,1225529,1225494,1225664],"cultivate_rss":[],"class_list":{"2":"type-post"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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