Kyrie Irving signs with Chinese shoe brand ANTA after Nike dumped him over anti-Semitism scandal
Kyrie Irving has signed a lucrative five-year deal with little-known Chinese brand ANTA and amazingly will also serve as the company’s Chief Creative Officer just seven months after being sacked by Nike in the wake of his anti-Semitic comments.
The partnership was announced on Tuesday by Shams Charania, van The athletic, while ANTA looks to expand its presence and popularity in the US. The sportswear brand already has endorsements from other NBA stars, such as Klay Thompson and Gordon Hayward.
Irving, 31, was previously sponsored by Nike and produced his own signature line, which the player himself claims has generated $2.6 billion in revenue over the past seven years in a tweet earlier this month.
“It’s safe to say I’m one of those dominating the competitive shoe market here,” tweeted the Dallas Mavericks point guard, who last week re-signed with Mark Cuban’s team for $126 million over the next three years.
“And not to be arrogant, ask around, the kids who grew up wearing/buying my shoes respectfully know I’m that guy because of the WORLDWIDE support.”
Kyrie Irving now has a sponsorship deal with Chinese footwear wear ANTA for the next five years
After being dropped by Nike last year, Irving covered his shoes with tape or personal beliefs
Irving, 31, signed with ANTA just days after agreeing to a three-year, $126 million contract with the Mavericks
Earlier this month, Irving claimed his old shoe line with Nike generated $2.6 billion in revenue
Nike suspended the deal with Irving in November before parting ways with the eight-time All-Star indefinitely in December after promoting an anti-Semitic film on his social media accounts and showing no remorse for his actions when presented with several opportunities to apologize for the scandal.
Nike also scrapped the release of the Kyrie 8 shoes, which were set to go on sale from November.
“At Nike, we believe there is no place for hate speech and we condemn any form of anti-Semitism,” the company said in a statement last year. “We are deeply saddened and disappointed by the situation and its impact on everyone.”
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Irving also served an eight-game suspension imposed on him by the Brooklyn Nets.
He was then traded to the Dallas Mavericks ahead of the NBA Trade Deadline in February.
The 2016 NBA champion, who hasn’t been able to shake off the “LeBron sidekick” tag fans have given him due to his inability to single-handedly win a championship, said Tuesday he is “incredibly excited” about his collaboration with ANTA.
“The first step to becoming partners is to share the same dreams, goals, and missions,” says Irving. ‘ANTA’s rapid development over the years, openness to creativity, willingness to embrace family and teamwork, expertise in product innovation and manufacturing processes have left a remarkable impression not only on me, but also on my A11Even team working side by side will work with me in creating something that is truly generation specific.’
Irving remained unapologetic after promoting an anti-Semitic movie on social media last season
Irving – an eight-time All-Star – said he is “incredibly excited” about his partnership with ANTA
The eight-time All-Star will debut the upcoming NBA season in ANTA’s Shock Wave 5 sneakers
Irving also defaced his sneakers with political messages during games after Nike dropped him
Over the course of the second half of last season, after being dropped by Nike, Irving often wore earlier shoe models he collaborated on, such as the Kyrie 3s and Kyrie 4s, with the company during games and covered them with either tape or messages featuring him shares his personal beliefs.
Irving is now ready to kick off the upcoming NBA season in ANTA’s Shock Wave 5 sneakers, with his first signature collection scheduled to be released sometime in the early months of 2024. Boardroom.
The first pick of the 2011 NBA Draft, who is the fourth most-followed basketball player on Instagram with 19.2 million followers, follows in the footsteps of former pros Kevin Garnett, Luis Scola, Rajon Rondo and Chandler Parsons by signing with ANTA.
During his time with Nike, Irving released a total of 22 signature shoes since his rookie year, when he was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers with LeBron James.
“Being appointed Chief Creative Officer of ANTA Basketball is more than just a realization of my dreams; in fact, it might be the perfect opportunity for me, a person who always dreams big and values independent thinking, to leverage my artistic talents to build, create and unify the culture both on and off the pitch,” he said .
ANTA has opened more than 9,000 physical stores in Asia and with Irving now on the books, the brand is at the forefront of expanding the sportswear market in the US.
“It is our genuine love of basketball that has brought Kyrie and ANTA together, a love that transcends age, gender, race and background,” said Mr. Xu Yang, CEO of ANTA, in a statement. “We believe this collaboration will create a fusion of Chinese and Western cultures and bring us more vitality and creativity to continuously push the boundaries and explore the infinite possibilities at the intersection of basketball and culture.”
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