Also from Nike, also from Thunder, now on the court and in the mall, both of them are tit for tat. This battle that has nothing to do with MVP will continue for a long time.

Text/Clive

Editor/Chen Siyi

This season's MVP voting has been closed, and the topic of "Shao Wei VS Harden" which has lasted for the whole season has come to an end temporarily with the thunder and the rocket going out one after another. However, when it comes to sporting goods, the competition between them is far from over.

Adidas top basketball player james harden and Nike Jordan brand leader Westbrook will continue to wrestle for their respective brands. Today, we will talk about Harden and Shao Wei's shoes.

Let's talk about their current sponsorship.

Love-hate entanglement between Harden and Adidas

As is known to all, during his contact with Kohler Kardashian in the summer of 20 15, Harden conveniently got a note from the German brand Adidas, the new owner of KanyeWest: 13 years, 200 million dollars!

In fact, in a word, it is Adi's last choice to sign Harden as an endorsement: derrick rose, the youngest MVP in many years of history, has long lost his courage after several major repairs; Howard's state is declining, and the sales of signature shoes as a center are bleak; Rookie such as Wiggins DanteExum, who signed the contract the year before last, also failed to form a youth storm that swept the league.

At the same time, competitor Nike is a talent blowout. In addition to James J.S.Wong, Durant and Kobe, Kelly Owen launched the first signature shoe of a new generation, which was well received. Paul george was seriously injured but is gradually recovering, and the road of signature shoes in the future is also worth looking forward to; Even UA, the new MVP library, has surpassed Adidas' market share in North America.

At this time, the only heavyweight "free agent in the sneaker market" this season is james harden, who just led the Rockets to the Western Conference finals and ranked second in the MVP selection. However, when Adidas really threw money at Harden, it also had hidden concerns: the off-site image of the "little prince in the nightclub" has been criticized, which was also involved in the Kardashian family soap operas. The beard can leave some strength to play on the court, which makes people sweat.

Sure enough, the 20 15/ 16 season was a nightmare for the Rockets and Harden. After the coach's losing streak was rejected at the beginning of the season, Harden, who spoke for CrazyLightBoost series, was in poor condition ... It was not until February that Harden said goodbye to Odom and Kohler's love triangle that he gradually recovered.

However, the season has passed. Rockets and Harden, who barely entered the playoffs, were swept out of the house by the Warriors without any suspense. Adi, the new basketball leader, was not even selected for the third best team. Seeing that the tailor-made Harden signature shoes are about to be sold, the appeal of the spokesperson is not rising but falling. Many people lamented that Adi had taken another step this time.

However, a blessing in disguise is a blessing in disguise. Last season's recession forced him to "go all out". The Rockets experienced great personnel changes this season, and D 'Antoni took office, which also brought a group of pitchers suitable for small ball play.

In the new environment, in the summer, Harden, who has worked hard, is more like a duck to water, and has repeatedly made amazing performances. Against the Knicks at the end of last year, he scored 53 points 16 boards 17 assists. Such a strong style of play also gave the Harden generation the best endorsement for the sale.

The first black gold color scheme "ImmaBeAStar" was sold out soon after listing, rekindling Adidas' hope for basketball category. Harden, the life-saving straw in the hands of the Germans, finally put the rocket on the right track and walked steadily in his iconic sneakers.

However, by the end of the season, Harden of Adidas gradually lost his luster. Not because of the decline in beard performance, but because of his former teammate, he showed unparalleled epic competitiveness.

Shao Wei has brought new opportunities to Nike.

Russell Westbrook, with his explosive performance and shocking triple-double data, has attracted the spotlight of the media and become the darling of MVP. Durant left, Ibaka left, and stood up against OKC in such a difficult environment. One man, one city, Shao Wei wrote the most American script of personal heroism like a Hollywood blockbuster. Magic lore, Nuggets lore, averaging three pairs a season, breaking the ancient record of nearly half a century, really amazing!

Seeing such a scene, how can Shao Wei's sponsor Jordan, or its best marketing parent company Nike, miss this hot spot? No, before the end of the regular season, JordanBrand immediately announced that it would sell Shao Wei's personal AJ30.5, which immediately set off a shoe buying craze. Just like Shao Wei's unruly personality, his personal exclusive PE "Why Not" shouted to the world that he would go his own way and never give up.

Then the question is coming:

Shao Wei and Harden are competing for the MVP in full swing, so is there a competitive relationship between the shoes they endorse?

In my opinion, the brand's different positioning of spokespersons has caused no direct confrontation between the two in the field of sneakers.

As mentioned above, Harden is the "gateway signboard" of Adidas basketball, and the brand will definitely invest all resources to promote and sell its signature shoes.

That's true. From the moment Harden signed the contract, the Germans positioned him as the first brother of the basketball category, designed Logo, released promotional videos, held a sneaker conference and took various measures. However, the utilitarian foul of beard also leads to the lack of powder absorption ability, which is indeed a big obstacle to the sales of his signature shoes.

On the other hand, Shao Wei and AJ, after Wade was poached by Li Ning, supported the Russian tortoise as the spokesperson of AirJordan's sneakers, which is not unrelated to Shao Wei's eye-catching style. However, relatively speaking, Westbrook's signature shoes are a bit tasteless.

After all, Shao Wei, as the main spokesman of the shoe model, has a personal signature shoe branch line, which does not conform to Jordan's brand planning and positioning. Providing "casual signature shoes" is also a little compensation for Shao Wei. Westbrook0 belongs to NikeSportswear, but it also complements Shao Wei's image as a trendy man.

Look at the sales. Because the Harden generation has not been listed for a long time, the author has not yet obtained specific sales data. However, according to the sales reports and brand share of basketball shoes in recent years, we can speculate that the sales of AJ3 1 or AirJordan's shoes (non-replica shoes) far exceed Adidas' signature shoes.

Although Harden broke out this season, his signature sneakers are hard to compare with Nike or Jordan's non-replica sneakers because of serious injuries in the style of the ball. As for Shao Wei's casual signature shoes, they are no longer in the traditional category of star signature shoes, and competitors such as Adidas and Andema have not set foot in this field, so they are not suitable for cooperation and comparison.

In fact, looking back at the history of their sponsors, we can easily find that Shao Wei and Harden's road to sneakers has almost become a completely different situation.

In the summer of 20 12, Westbrook, whose rookie sponsorship contract expired, was once rumored to sign Adi. Adidas Philippine official Instagram has even been eager to post news, but it was quickly deleted.

However, I don't know whether the injury of my good brother Ross made the Teenage Ninja Turtles feel timid, or whether Jordan was rational after losing Wade. Anyway, the final result is that Shao Wei stayed in the Nike camp, switched to JordanBrand and took over the banner of endorsing the first generation of sneakers.

Imagine, if the second brother really changed his name to Adidas (sponsoring UCLA), how could the third brother get the treatment of March 8th today?

Just, there is no if in life.

In the next few years, we will have the honor to witness TheBrodie, a lone hero wearing AirJordan, fighting with TheBeard, the handle of Adi basketball. Also from Nike, also from Thunder, now on the court and in the mall, both of them are tit for tat. This battle beyond "MVP" will continue for a long time.