Kyrie Irving signed a lucrative five-year deal with little-known Chinese brand ANTA and surprisingly will also serve as the company’s creative director, just seven months after Nike fired him over his anti-Semitic comments.
The partnership was announced Tuesday by Shams Charania of the athleticas ANTA looks to expand its presence and popularity in the US. The sportswear brand is already sponsored by other NBA stars, including Klay Thompson and Gordon Hayward.
Irving, 31, had previously been sponsored by Nike, producing his own signature line, which the player himself claims generated $2.6 billion in revenue over the last seven years in a tweet from earlier this month.
“I can safely say that I am one of those who dominate the competitive shoe market,” tweeted the Dallas Mavericks point guard, who re-signed with Mark Cuban’s team for $126 million over the next three years last week.
“And not to be arrogant, go ask, kids who grew up wearing/buying my shoes respectfully know I’m that guy thanks to Support WORLDWIDE.”
Kyrie Irving now has an endorsement deal with Chinese footwear ANTA for the next five years.
After being dropped by Nike last year, Irving covered his shoes with duct tape or personal beliefs.
Irving, 31, signed with ANTA just days after agreeing to a three-year, $126 million contract with the Mavericks.
Earlier this month, Irving claimed that his former shoe line with Nike brought in $2.6 billion in revenue.
Nike called off its deal with Irving in November before parting ways with the eight-time All-Star indefinitely in December after he promoted an anti-Semitic film on his social media accounts and was unwilling to show remorse for his actions when given several opportunities to apologize. for the scandal.
Nike also scrapped the release of the Kyrie 8 shoes, which were supposed to go on sale starting in November.
“At Nike, we believe there is no place for hate speech and we condemn any form of anti-Semitism,” the company said in a statement last year. “We are deeply saddened and disappointed by the situation and its impact on everyone.”
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Irving also served an eight-game suspension imposed on him by the Brooklyn Nets.
He was then traded to the Dallas Mavericks before the NBA’s trade deadline in February.
The 2016 NBA champion, who has been unable to shake the ‘LeBron buddy’ tag fans have given him due to his inability to win a championship on his own, said he is ‘incredibly excited’ about his collaboration with ANTA on Tuesday.
“The first step in becoming partners is to share the same dreams, goals and missions,” Irving said. ANTA’s rapid development over the years, openness to creativity, willingness to embrace family and teamwork, expertise in areas such as product innovation and manufacturing processes have left a remarkable impression. not just me, but also my A11Even team, who will be working closely with me to create something truly generationally special.’
Irving did not apologize after promoting an anti-Semitic film on social media last season.
Irving, an eight-time All-Star, said he is “incredibly excited” about his collaboration with ANTA.
The eight-time All-Star will debut next season in the NBA in the Shock Wave 5 shoe from ANTA.
Irving also covered his sneakers during games with political messages after Nike dropped him.
Over the course of the second half of last season, after being dropped by Nike, Irving often wore previous shoe models he collaborated on, such as the Kyrie 3s and Kyrie 4s, with the company during games, covering them with either of the two tapes. or messages sharing his personal beliefs.
Irving is now ready to kick off the upcoming NBA season in ANTA’s Shock Wave 5 sneakers, and his first signature collection is scheduled to drop sometime in early 2024, according to Boardroom.
The first overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, who is the fourth most followed basketball player on Instagram with 19.2 million followers, follows in the footsteps of former pros Kevin Garnett, Luis Scola, Rajon Rondo and Chandler Parsons by signing with ANTA.
During his time with Nike, Irving released 22 total signature shoes dating back to his rookie year, when he was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers with LeBron James.
‘Being appointed Creative Director of ANTA Basketball is more than the realization of my dreams; in fact, it may be the perfect opportunity for me, a person who always dreams big and values independent thinking, to harness my artistic talents to build, create and unify culture both on and off the pitch,” he said.
ANTA has opened over 9,000 physical retail stores across Asia and with Irving now on its books, the brand is at the forefront of the growing US sportswear market.
“It is our genuine love of basketball that brought Kyrie and ANTA together, a love that transcends age, gender, race and background,” Mr. Xu Yang, ANTA’s chief executive, said in a statement. “We believe this collaboration will create a fusion of Chinese and Western cultures and bring us more vitality and creativity to continually push the boundaries and explore the endless possibilities at the intersection of basketball and culture.”
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