Image: adidas
And now, a bit of good news from adidas:
PORTLAND, Ore. (April 14, 2014) – adidas today announced a long-term partnership extension with NBA All-Star point guard Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers. The young star will continue to be an integral part of adidas Basketball’s marketing campaigns, product launches and global initiatives moving forward.
Well, alright, Damian Lillard, one of the fastest rising stars in the NBA, has signed a long-term deal (reportedly the third highest behind only Derrick Rose’s deal with adidas and LeBron James’ Nike contract) with the three stripes, opting to stay with the brand that has quickly made him one of their top basketball athletes after a Rookie of the Year campaign last season and an NBA All-Star appearance this year. It was widely reported that Lillard was going to opt out of his current adidas deal and test the sneaker free agent market, but it seems like adidas thought so highly of him that they didn’t even let him test it at all.
Lillard staying with adidas is going to have a polarizing effect on the sneaker community. Many were excited to see him possibly move just across the pond to Nike (Nike and adidas HQ both reside in the PDX if you didn’t know) while others wanted to see him maybe blaze his own trail (pun intended) with a smaller brand. Adidas hasn’t exactly had the best of luck with a few high profile injuries and some Nike loyalists acting like their s**t don’t stink and piling on, but with their recent signings over at Originals, a really successful ZX Flux launch that really tapped into the sneaker zeitgeist and now the news that a potential perennial All-Star staying in the Performance fold, there is a lot of reasons for the brand to be happy.
So what does this mean for Lillard moving forward and what effect could this have on basketball shoes in the near future? A lot more than a few cute colorways of adidas retros like the Crazy 1, no doubt. Let’s explore some of the ways Damian Lillard staying with adidas is a big deal.
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Read the rest of Is Damian Lillard staying with adidas a big deal? (675 words)
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