Nike vs Adidas: Houston Rockets Star James Harden Gets $200M Offer To Jump Ship
Adidas wants to prove they are serious in their bid to compete on the sneaker market again as reports revealed they offered a lucrative deal to one of the top NBA superstars today.
ESPN reported that Adidas offered a 13-year deal worth $200 million to superstar guard James Harden after the contract of the Houston Rockets leading scorer with Nike ended.
Nike has until the end of next week to decide if they will match the offer to keep Harden. It should be noted that the Swoosh company is tied to lucrative deals with other NBA superstars like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and Kyrie Irving.
According to the report, the move came as a surprise, considering the fact that it is almost half of the amount the company spent as the official uniform supplier of the NBA for 11 seasons.
Adidas failed to gain grounds this year and actually fell to No. 3 among the top apparel brands in the United States -- behind Nike and Under Armour, who got a huge boost because of the rise to stardom of Golden State Warriors point guard and reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry.
Adidas spokesman Michael Erhlich confirmed to reporters that they indeed made an offer to Harden because they felt the Rockets star will be a huge boost to the company after having the best season of his career.
Harden averaged 27.4 points on top of 7.0 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game last season. He lost to Curry in the MVP race, but was voted by fellow players as the best among them last season.
"We're a brand of creators and he truly embodies what that means with his approach to the game, his look and his style on and off the court," Erhlich said in a statement. "He's coming off a historic season where he won the scoring title and was voted MVP by his peers. His connection with fans is unparalleled and unprecedented."
If Nike decides not to match or offer a more enticing deal, Harden will join Derrick Rose, Damian Lillard and John Wall in Adidas. Reports also added that he will eventually have his own signature line, which he did not get from Nike, which used him to endorse the Nike Hyperchase model.
Nike faced a similar situation last year when Under Armour offered a 10-year deal worth between $265 million and $285 million to Durant. Nike countered with a deal that could go as high as $300 million in 10 years to keep the Oklahoma City Thunder superstar.
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