adidas had an expiring deal with the NBA for manufacturing jerseys and apparel. While they didn’t try to renew, Nike came in and claimed the next deal. They will take over and produce apparel when adidas’ contract expires after the 2016-17 season. With that move, many thought adidas was trying to steer clear of the basketball world since Nike owns such a big market share.
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That’s not true. adidas is offering James Harden a $200 million dollar contract to sign with the Three Stripes. adidas has a great core of young players and playmakers such as Derrick Rose, John Wall, and Damian Lillard. Those three have signature shoes and Harden will most definitely join the party if he signs.
According to Darren Rovell of ESPN, Harden was offered a $200 million deal for 13 years which would be more money than actually playing basketball for the Houston Rockets:
The company has submitted a bid of $200 million over 13 years to sign Houston Rockets guard James Harden, sources told ESPN.com. Nike, whose deal with Harden recently expired, has until the end of next week to match the deal or lose him.
A $200 million offer is huge, considering it represents half of what the brand paid for 11 seasons as the NBA’s official uniform supplier. Earlier this year, Adidas announced that it would not fight to renew that deal, which will see its competitor Nike take over after the 2016-17 season.
With incentives, if the deal is consummated, Harden could very well make more from Adidas in the coming years than the Rockets. Harden signed an $80 million contract extension with Houston in 2012 that goes through the 2017-18 season.
With Nike, Harden was the first to wear the Zoom Run the One and the Hyperchase although they weren’t officially his signature shoes. That’s a huge contract, but it will definitely boost adidas’ brand. Harden was the 2014-15 NBA MVP runner up behind Stephen Curry who is an athlete of Under Armour. Curry recently received his first signature shoe and has boosted the brand’s popularity.
Under Armour tried to lure Kevn Durant with a $270 million deal but he chose to stay with Nike. Recently, Jimmy Butler left adidas to sign with Jordan Brand for less money. He was more comfortable in the Jumpman, loved the shoes, and the paycut was not an issue for Butler.
