Adidas Offered James Harden A Massive Deal To Try And Lure Him Away From Nike

USA TODAY Sports

The NBA free agency period is winding down, but there’s a whole other free agent frenzy that’s just starting to heat up; that of the shoe deal variety. After more than a decade as the official apparel provider for the NBA, Adidas announced this spring that it would not enter a bidding war with rival Nike for the new contract. Now, Adidas is trying to lure at least one high-profile Nike endorser with a mammoth, multi-year contract offer.

According to Darren Rovell of ESPN.com, Adidas has offered James Harden an astounding 13-year contract worth $200 million. Houston’s All-Star shooting guard is something of a restricted free agent in this scenario, however, as Nike apparently has the opportunity to match the deal by the end of next week.

“We’ve invited James Harden to join Adidas,” said Adidas spokesman Michael Ehrlich in a statement. “We’re a brand of creators and he truly embodies what that means with his approach to the game, his look and his style on and off the court. He’s coming off a historic season where he won the scoring title and was voted MVP by his peers. His connection with fans is unparalleled and unprecedented and he can take the game, our brand and the industry to new heights.”

Despite boasting current big-name players like John Wall, Derrick Rose, Damian Lillard, and even Harden’s teammate Dwight Howard among its endorsers, Adidas has been losing traction in the shoe and apparel game for some time now and has slipped to third place in terms of brand popularity (i.e. sales) behind Nike and Under Armor.

Under Armor, you may recall, similarly tried to steal Kevin Durant from Nike last fall by offering him a huge contract reportedly worth $285 million. But Nike eventually trumped that with a $300 million deal. Never underestimate the power (or the pocketbook) of the Swoosh.

Add that to the fact that Nike let Steph Curry — before he was STEPH CURRY! — defect to Under Armor a few years ago, and we could have the makings of an enormous counter-offer from the sneaker giant. Either way, Harden is set to cash in on his rise to fame over the past few years.

(via ESPN.com)