It’s a change that very few saw coming.
Dwyane Wade has dropped his Jordan Brand endorsement and signed with Chinese athletic brand Li-Ning!
With a huge endorsement like Brand Jordan and Nike, we assume there were either huge creative differences, or just a huge check courtesy of Li-Ning on the table; but we have to ask: is this a good long term decision for Dwyane?
Although Dwyane Wade is not the first (and probably not the last) athlete to sign with Li-Ning, he is undoubtedly the most high profile player. He just won an NBA Championship with the Miami Heat, he had signature shoes with Brand Jordan, and is arguably part of one of the best rosters in the NBA right now. When you take this all into consideration, a move like this almost feels bigger for the Li-Ning brand than it is for Wade!
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Although the Brand Jordan and D. Wade partnership seems like an amazing pairing, history inevitably repeated itself with this one, because if you recall, Converse once had Dwyane on their roster of endorsed athletes until he left them for Brand Jordan.
From the prospective of a sneaker lover, although Dwyane’s sneakers were not as popular as the mainline Air Jordan items, having the brand backing him was still a big deal and added to the credibility of the shoe. Although Li-Ning may make great shoes, in the US where Dwyane makes a living, its credibility accounts for nothing. Dwyane’s fans will undoubtedly find it hard to support a brand they are not familiar with.
Let’s also be honest with ourselves – when it comes to sporting, America is a very proud nation. We support our athletes and we support the brands that we know and products that were created here; brands like Nike And New Balance may come to mind. As long as we are patriotic about our modern day gladiators, we probably won’t support Li-Ning in the same way.
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Some of you may recall that Dwyane Wade made a trip to China during last year’s NBA Lockout. When asked about the trip, Dwyane said:
“I’m really looking forward to going back to China. I haven’t been since the Olympics, and I read on Twitter a lot, Facebook, a lot of the fans in China wanted me to come back, are already marking the day that I come over there. So I’m excited to finally go over there and just enjoy China.”
Although at the time, the trip was sponsored by Brand Jordan, we suspect it’s possible the seeds for giving back to China were planted in Dwyane’s mind. Li-Ning needed a big name to help them over that hump and we guess Dwyane was that guy. Maybe Li-Ning is on to something.
Either way, we can’t help but feel that this will work against the Dwyane Wade brand as a whole. Only time will actually tell…
