There was some interesting news that came out Thursday for those of you who follow player endorsement deals. CounterKicks broke the news that Steve Nash would be leaving Nike to sign with Chinese company Luyou. While the deal seemed damning for Nike on the surface, it’s not as bad as it appears.
Though Nash is no longer under contract with Nike, he will continue to wear their shoes while playing in the U.S., according to Seth Pollack of Bright Side of the Sun. Nash also said his deal only applies in China, so he’ll continue to rep Nike despite not being under contract. Rather than indicating that the swoosh is losing prominence in the basketball world, this only shows how much bigger the NBA is getting in China.
Baron Davis, Hasheem Thabeet, Ron Artest, Jason Kidd, and Nash are amongst some of the players with deals in China. Much like big names such as Stephon Marbury and Allen Iverson who have gone abroad to play, Steve Nash is a recognizable figure. It makes more sense for a Chinese company to spend money to get a big-name player like Nash to draw attention to their gear. Nike still has the biggest stars in the game under contract, so losing a guy like Nash is no big deal, especially if he continues to pimp their product on the court.
