Zion Williamson is no longer as marketable as he used to be.
Nike’s Jordan Brand is planning to discontinue the signature basketball shoe line of the New Orleans Pelicans star Williamson, Nicholas Vlahos of Sole Retriever reported this week. Vlahos notes that the Jordan Zion 4, which was released in Jan. 2025, will be the final sneaker released for Williamson.
While Williamson will no longer be a signature athlete for Jordan Brand, he will reportedly remain an athlete on the Jordan roster as his contract doesn’t expire until later in 2026. You can read Vlahos’ full report on the situation here.
Williamson, 25, first signed with Jordan Brand on a seven-year, $75 million endorsement deal prior to his NBA debut back in 2019. That marked one of the largest rookie contracts in the footwear world at the time.
But Williamson, now in his seventh year in the league, has failed to live up to expectations as a professional. Though a two-time All-Star in 2021 and 2023, problems with weight, conditioning, and injuries have dogged Williamson throughout his time in the NBA.
While Williamson was able to launch multiple successful signature sneakers for Jordan Brand over the last five years despite those struggles, his stock has continued to sink within the last several months especially. Williamson faced some extremely troubling allegations in a lawsuit from his ex-girlfriend last May and has not inspired much confidence with his subsequent work on the court either.
The former No. 1 overall pick Williamson has been limited to just 31 games played this season due to hamstring and adductor issues and is having a down year across the board even when healthy (22.0 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game). A report last month claimed that the Pelicans were now eager to move on from Williamson, and now Jordan Brand is officially moving on from Williamson as a signature athlete on their own accord.
