Adidas Offers Harden $200-Million to Join the Brand
A report from ESPN’s Sports Business Reporter, Darren Rovell, says that Adidas has offered the Houston Rockets James Harden a lucrative $200 million dollar contract that would last 13 years. Harden has been with Nike and they will have the opportunity to match if they wish to keep ‘The Beard,’ either way the Rockets superstar makes a minimum of $200 million.
James Harden has reportedly been offered a $200M contract by Adidas: http://t.co/5UqrbjWfgm pic.twitter.com/HZKaslDyDK
— ESPN (@espn) August 3, 2015
Apparently Adidas was not pleased with their core of talent that enlists veteran Derrick Rose, high-flying John Wall, savvy ‘Dame’ Lillard and All-Star rookie Andrew Wiggins to name a few. Wiggins recently signed his deal as he is entering his second season, Harden on the other hand is about to sign the prime shoe endorsement of his whole career.
He is 25 years old now, which means he wouldn’t sign another deal until 38, so this is the deal that will make or break his marketing for his career.
Rovell also noted that Adidas spokesman Michael Ehrlich had some things to say about the offer, “We’ve invited James Harden to join Adidas, 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.”
Ehrlich continues, “His connection with fans is unparalleled and unprecedented and he can take the game, our brand and the industry to new heights.” Clearly Adidas thinks this will take them up an echelon by signing the should-have-been-MVP, but would Nike let him walk?
If James Harden secures $200 million deal with adidas, he will be 1 of top 5 highest endorsed @NBA players in 2015. pic.twitter.com/Bl3GUVdlbA
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) August 3, 2015
For that much money, it wouldn’t be a shock if they didn’t propose a counter-offer. Nike just let the actual MVP walk just last year as Steph Curry took his talents to Under Armour. Harden is the future, but Nike already has Kevin Durant, LeBron James and the rest of Kobe Bryant‘s career (whose shoes still make a killing by the way).
Teammate Dwight Howard recently walked away from Adidas. After spending his entire career with the brand that raised him, Howard is planning to join a Chinese brand, Peak. On the other hand, point guard Patrick Beverley is signed with Three Stripes and could be doing a little recruiting himself. Here’s Beverley rocking the Adidas Yeezy 350 Boost, inspired/created by Kanye West; definitely one of the most sought after kicks from Adidas:
S/o to @azerzan1 for never letting me down #yeezyboost350 #adidas Next stop…………………..
A photo posted by Patrick Beverley (@patbev21) on Jun 30, 2015 at 5:43pm PDT
Harden has been lacing up the Nike Hyperchase for most of the past year and although they never officially named it his, they have decked him out with color-ways all season. He wore them for all of the playoffs and this year’s All-Star game (below). Adidas would have to make a sleek model that could fit with his fast-pace game and Harden may need to put in a little extra work to get something he likes.
February 15, 2015; New York, NY, USA; Eastern Conference forward LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers (23) defends against Western Conference guard James Harden of the Houston Rockets (13) during the second half of the 2015 NBA All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
James Harden is a very lucky man, he will have the top two basketball shoe brands fighting over his services and paying him a monstrous amount of cash to wear their kicks. Don’t expect him to be rocking Jeremy Scott’s or anything too flashy, but if he does sign with Adidas then he will finally have his own signature line, the dream of any basketball player!
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