Giannis Antetokounmpo is staying with Nike, and he'll finally be getting his own signature shoe. The NBA MVP candidate became the league's most coveted "sneaker free agent" at the end of September and had been mulling lucrative offers from Adidas and Li-Ning who had both been trying to poach him from Nike.
The 22-year old forward shared the news on social media today, announcing the new long-term deal with Nike. As part of the deal, Nike will be giving the Greek Freak his own signature shoe which will reportedly be ready for release during the 2018-19 NBA season.
Adidas and Li-Ning went all out in their efforts to sign the rising superstar but Nike always had the upper hand because of their ability to match any offer presented to him. Both Li-Ning and Adidas had assured Giannis his own signature shoe if he left Nike.
According to ESPN's Nick DePaula, Adidas' pitch included some talk about how the brand recently jumped over Jordan Brand in the United States and how they view Giannis as the next global game-changer under the Adidas umbrella, following in the footsteps of Muhammad Ali, Arthur Ashe and Jesse Owens. Of course, they also hooked him up with a van full of Adidas gear, including boxes and boxes of Yeezys,
Nike's pitch, according to ESPN' Nick DePaula, focused on the fact that Antetokounmpo would become just the 22nd player to ever receive his own signature sneaker with the illustrious brand.
Antetokounmpo currently leads the league in points per game with 31, while also grabbing 9.9 rebounds and dishing out five assists per game. The Milwaukee Bucks, 4-5, will take on the Cavs in Cleveland tonight before heading to San Antonio for a showdown with the Spurs on Friday night.