Adidas to end partnership with NBA

Official Press Release

“We have decided to not renew our partnership as official outfitter of the NBA after our current contract expires following the 16-17 season. While we have enjoyed a successful long-term relationship with the league, we continually review our partner agreements to ensure they are meeting our investment and delivering on our brand and business needs. We are reimagining and reshaping our business and have evolved our strategy to look at new, cutting-edge ways to drive our brand and support our business over the long term. We will invest more in telling stories that matter to our consumer, building category-disrupting innovative products, reinvigorating youth basketball with our new Next Generation programs and doubling our roster of professional athletes to authenticate our brand on-court.”

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Wall to get signature shoe

Despite the bad news of getting cut from Team USA, John Wall does have some good news.  One year after leaving Reebok, Wall has joined the Adidas family and will have a signature shoe released in October.  

“It’s pretty exciting and fun to know you can have your own stuff,” Wall said. “All the Adidas stuff I wear will probably have my logo on it, just like [fellow Adidas endorser] Derrick [Rose] will wear everything that’s got D-Rose on it. Makes it fun.”

“It wasn’t planned at all,” Wall said. “because they didn’t know I was going to produce, coming off my injury for one. And then they were like, ‘We can’t put no money into a guy that ain’t going to be playing.’ And things like that. They were going through a tough time with Derrick being injured and they invested a lot of time in him and the other guys around Adidas are happy to have him back playing. But how the season went along and I played big, had a 47-point game. And going into the next season I had the Crazy Quick 2. I started wearing and they were, ‘Well, we think it’s time you start building you marketing-wise.’ ”

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