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19. Dwayne Wade
photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images via ZimbioThe entire basketball world sneaker community took notice when Dwyane Wade surprisingly signed a shoe deal with Chinese footwear brand Li-Ning in 2012. Sure, China-based Anta received the services of Kevin Garnett in 2010 but to little reaction by the masses seeing that, although the highest paid player in the NBA at the time, he was past his prime of influencing through sneakers. The same can be said about Jason Kidd, who inked an endorsement deal with Chinese sportswear brand PEAK in 2008 following the Olympics.
Contrarily, news of Wade’s move to Li-Ning was reported everywhere and rightfully so. For the first time, a Chinese apparel brand had signed an American basketball superstar who was still well within his prime at the age of 30. The move created a slight shift in power, gave players the option to build something on their own and potentially choose more money over partnering with a “cool” brand. But more importantly, shoe deals became something to really examine and follow.
Since then, Tony Parker switched from Nike to PEAK and Rajon Rondo sided with Anta. Also, while Under Armour is in no way a lesser-known brand but still fairly new in the basketball market, it now has a top-10 player in Stephen Curry on their roster and closely flirted with the signing of Kevin Durant this summer. Following shoe deals is a thing now, the power is shifting and you can somewhat credit Dwyane Wade’s move for this.
-George Kiel III
