by Ben Osborne / @bosborne17
Given our connections with all the big sneaker companies, we have been getting breathless updates on the battle to sign John Wall to an endorsement deal ever since he declared for the Draft.
The favorite has long been seen as Reebok, which had the financial backing from parent company adidas to go after Wall, the heritage of making iconic shoes for one player without much of a larger roster of players (Allen Iverson and his long line of signature Reebok kicks) and a refocus on hoops with the brand’s upcoming Zig basketball shoe.
Add it all together and, as Adrian Wojnaroski reported this evening, Reebok got its man.
Writes Woj:
“Kentucky guard John Wall, the projected No. 1 pick in June’s NBA draft, has reached an endorsement agreement with Reebok worth $25 million over five years, sources tell Yahoo! Sports.
Reebok made an immense investment with the charismatic and explosive guard, believing that Wall can replace Allen Iverson as the brand’s superstar. Wall’s reps, Dan Fegan of BEST Entertainment and Brian Clifton of Pindar Enterprises, negotiated a rare two guaranteed signature shoes for Wall.”
Those financial numbers are much in line with what we’d heard. We also heard rumors that Iverson himself was part of Reebok’s pitch to sign Wall.
We’d heard of everyone from Nike to Peak to Under Armour discussing what it would take to sign Wall, but again, all indications (including a Tweet from John—@jimmywa11—himself) are that the soon-to-be-Washington Wizard has committed to Reebok.
