Kawhi Leonard is currently the face of New Balance's basketball division. He has remained incredibly faithful to the brand as he is always sporting their kicks and apparel. He is even in commercials with Jack Harlow, which just goes to show that he is fully committed to making New Balance a premier name in the basketball space.
Unfortunately, there are always some conflicts of interest when it comes to the world of endorsement deals. For instance, Nike and New Balance are competitors of one another. This creates an especially complicated relationship given the fact that Kawhi has to wear a jersey with the Nike logo on it, while also repping New Balance.
These days, however, it appears as though Kawhi has found a way to make the Nike situation disappear. Essentially, Kawhi is ripping the Nike logo off of his jerseys. Case in point, Kawhi was on the cover of SLAM magazine with Paul George, and as you can see below, the Nike logo was ripped off the jersey. Of course, there was still a bit of residue left over, but the point was made.
It remains to be seen whether or not Kawhi will continue to do this throughout the year during game situations. Either way, Nike might have something to say about this, very soon.