Jordan Brand to Part Ways w/ Kawhi

[MaxRider]

Clipper fans dont buy shoes, theyre sandal /slipper type people.

Wouldn’t be mentioning shoes with them ugly Kobe’s every year.

to my surprise
Kobe shoes are pretty good basketball shoes
my favorite is the V
i like it so much i actually went to ebay and bought two more pairs
(store don't have it anymore, they were selling VI at that time)

[JellosJigglin]

4/22 seems like a garbage extension offer to someone who was top 5 when he went down.

They'll probably regret not offering more after this season.

What good is top 5 if you aren't moving merch? I'm guessing that extension is related to how much revenue he draws for Jordan Brand, which obviously isn't much if they're cutting him loose.

The extension should be based on projected revenue that he's expected to bring in. If he plays like a top 5 player this year + signs in Los Angeles in 2019, his net worth will be insane. I feel like they just didn't want to take the risk.

Projected revenue only plays a small part in it. Jordan Brand is not in the business of gambling. He was already a top 5 player and didn't make them much money. I'm sure they have experts who can project their revenue if he played in different markets. They still didn't see it worthy of the price he was asking. He just isn't a mainstream draw.

[Duke4life831]

Is 5.5M per year a lot for a shoe deal tho? O_o

https://hypebeast.com/2017/6/nba-biggest-shoe-deals-2016-2017

Again, not sure if this list is comprehensive, but Lillard can get $10M, Kyrie 8M per but Kawhi can't? He gets the same as Paul George?

People say personality, but Rose got $11M last season, I'm assuming from his MVP-level prime.

The thing is though, Kyrie had the 2nd best selling shoe last year, his jersey was the 3rd highest selling jersey. You walk down the street and ask random people if they know who Kyrie Irving is and if they know who Kawhi Leonard is, youre probably going to get back a lot more yeses for Kyrie. Stuff like that is far more important when it comes to these guys value with these shoe deals and other endorsements.

[MaxRider]

Can't remember the last Jordan Brand signature shoe that basketball players actually wanted to wear (outside of Jordan's own signature shoe). No one is demanding the Melo's, or Chris Pauls or Westbrook (whoever is signed to the brand). They don't make great ball shoes imo. Better to find a deal with Nike or Adidas or sell out to one of the Chinese brands for big bucks.

not counting Air Jordan retro
the last Jordan basketball shoes i bought was Chris Paul
don't remember which version
i mainly bought it because of the color
it was black/white/gold (New Orleans Hornets color)

edit
found it
https://sneakernews.com/2008/04/16/air-jordan-cp3-blackwhitegold/

[Duke4life831]

What good is top 5 if you aren't moving merch? I'm guessing that extension is related to how much revenue he draws for Jordan Brand, which obviously isn't much if they're cutting him loose.

The extension should be based on projected revenue that he's expected to bring in. If he plays like a top 5 player this year + signs in Los Angeles in 2019, his net worth will be insane. I feel like they just didn't want to take the risk.

Projected revenue only plays a small part in it. Jordan Brand is not in the business of gambling. He was already a top 5 player and didn't make them much money. I'm sure they have experts who can project their revenue if he played in different markets. They still didn't see it worthy of the price he was asking. He just isn't a mainstream draw.

Yup. And just putting him in LA isnt all of a sudden going to make him a lot more popular. Kawhi is already known by all NBA fans, its the general audience he needs to reach. Putting him in LA would help if he took advantage of it, Im not sure Kawhi has the personality to take advantage of it. If he goes to LA and becomes more social, then ya it should be a big boost. But if he goes to LA, still doesnt talk to anyone, him chilling at his mansion in Malibu isnt going to make that big of a difference than him chilling in his mansion in San Antonio. He needs to step out and be a lot more social if he wants those bigger endorsement deals.

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

It's all good Kawhi. You can get plenty of sneaker deals up here in the North.

[Hello Brooklyn]

You guys don't get how shoe deals work.

Its not based on how good of a basketball player you are. Its matters how popular you are and thus how many shoes you can sell.

Kawhi never talks, doesn't use social media, and barely does endorsement deals.

What has he done to merit a huge sneaker deal? You think kids are going to the stores and demanding Kawhi's shoes the way they are someone like Kyrie or Steph?

[Throwback24]

That idiot is going run this kid’s reputation straight into the ground.

Who says he can't do better?

[PistolPeteJR]

Dont worry, Drake will get him in on Addidas

Please no. All I can think about is D-Rose whenever anyone signs with Adidas. We all know how that turned out... (not blaming the shoe, just faking superstitiousness lol).

(Yes I made up a word)

[BVB24]

That idiot is going run this kid’s reputation straight into the ground.

Who says he can't do better?

Better than Jordan/Nike? Even if he signs with Adidas or puma for more money , that would still be a major step down. Jordan/Nike is the pinnacle of basketball branding.

[nedleeds]

Li Ning or PEAK deal inbound. He doesn't speak Mandarin anyway.

[John Murdoch]

Kawhi buddy ole pal come on down bud we got a a fresh pair of errrrr whatever tf these are waiting for you

[Throwback24]

That idiot is going run this kid’s reputation straight into the ground.

Who says he can't do better?

Better than Jordan/Nike? Even if he signs with Adidas or puma for more money , that would still be a major step down. Jordan/Nike is the pinnacle of basketball branding.

He might just want to get paid brother...

[draftbarnes]

He can rock a pair of k swiss

[qm22]

Can't remember the last Jordan Brand signature shoe that basketball players actually wanted to wear (outside of Jordan's own signature shoe). No one is demanding the Melo's, or Chris Pauls or Westbrook (whoever is signed to the brand). They don't make great ball shoes imo. Better to find a deal with Nike or Adidas or sell out to one of the Chinese brands for big bucks.

You've got to be kidding me, this is blasphemous. With people into bball shoes they're considered iconic in style and in performance the best or near it, regardless of who is endorsing them. Even retro Jordan's are still better than most of the newly endorsed shoes in the normal nike line. Plenty of players wear them, but most have minor endorsement deals restricting that (even without a sig line).

As for the Melo and CP3s, I think they are not that different than the other AJs, but just have a different exterior for the signature player. It's just for fans of those rather than an individual type - to my understanding the technology is the same as what they have in their other shoes and often similar to the contemporary AJ of the year with minor variations. For the players with the AJ brand it is more like they are contributing to the maintenance of the existing top-level image rather than trying to sell a new or less popular brand.

[Wolfgang630]

Kawhi is WAY too quiet and out of the media to get big shoe deals anyway

[CS707]

You guys don't get how shoe deals work.

Its not based on how good of a basketball player you are. Its matters how popular you are and thus how many shoes you can sell.

Kawhi never talks, doesn't use social media, and barely does endorsement deals.

What has he done to merit a huge sneaker deal? You think kids are going to the stores and demanding Kawhi's shoes the way they are someone like Kyrie or Steph?

There are 3 pages of posts saying pretty much exactly what you just said. I'm pretty sure people know how it works.

[qm22]

Awesome move. Guarantees he will be going to LAKESHOW. Big deals will happen as a Laker. NOT in lets say... Oh... Canada

What? Vince Carter was an unendorsed nobody until he left Toronto right? Is this a similar idea to Melo selling more shoes when he went to NY vs. Denver? And I doubt the market in Canada, excluding the US, is a small consideration, and may even be an advantage for some players.

How about Blake Griffin's shoes...? Actually I got them myself because they were very highly reviewed on Kicksgenius and they were in fact awesome. Still not popular though despite having the best price.

[gpoon]

I dont think Toronto is the issue for selling shoes its Kawhi, VC had huge success selling his Nike Shox VC line here in Canada and that was just the beginning of basketball in Toronto, the City has come a long way. Kawhi just doesn't have an appealing personality or flashy playing style to attract consumers. Duncan Arguably top PF of all time pretty reserved but never sold a ton of shoes.

[RIP Kobe]

Is 5.5M per year a lot for a shoe deal tho? O_o

https://hypebeast.com/2017/6/nba-biggest-shoe-deals-2016-2017

Again, not sure if this list is comprehensive, but Lillard can get $10M, Kyrie 8M per but Kawhi can't? He gets the same as Paul George?

People say personality, but Rose got $11M last season, I'm assuming from his MVP-level prime.

kawhi doesn't wanna wear what they tell him to wear. that's why.