CounterKicks has exclusively confirmed through multiple sources that Kevin Garnett has officially signed an endorsement contract with Chinese sportswear brand ANTA and will leave adidas at the end of the current NBA season. Continue reading for breaking news on Kevin Garnett signing with ANTA…
The deal was set to be officially announced later this summer in China, as Garnett’s contract with adidas allows for an opt-out at the end of the current NBA season next month. Garnett’s new endorsement deal with ANTA, while still unofficially announced, is reported to be for a huge sum – enough to leave adidas where he had signed a “lifetime endorsement contract” back in 2003. At the time, former adidas Basketball Public Relations Manager Travis Gonzolez went so far as to say about the adidas-KG arrangement: “We’re actually looking for Kevin to wear our shoes not only during his playing career but driving our basketball business long after his career on the court.”
While Kevin Garnett’s switch to ANTA from adidas seems sudden, Garnett gained a reputation early on in his career for frequently changing his footwear endorsements after signing with Nike out of high school and leaving the Beaverton-based company after only five years for AND1, where he stayed for two years before finally settling in with adidas. And now, the 34-year-old Boston Celtics forward has left the adidas “Brotherhood” for ANTA, one of the emerging Chinese sportswear companies along with Li-Ning and PEAK who all have plans to make a run at the U.S. market in this coming decade.
Fujian-based ANTA Sports Products Limited was established in 1994 and in recent years has signed official sports contracts with the NBA’s Houston Rockets in 2007 along with its first NBA endorser, Steve Francis. One of the company’s previously used slogans: Keep Moving.
CounterKicks reached adidas regarding Garnett’s new endorsement contract with ANTA with the company issuing a “no comment” on the deal at the present moment.
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