Bye bye, Kawhi.
The biggest news of the off-season so far hasn’t been LeBron James’s move to LA (we all knew that was going to happen, anyway). It’s of course been the circus surrounding Kawhi Leonard’s departure from the Spurs — mainly the conduct in which the All-Star has shown over the last 12 months. Leonard passed up a whopping five-year, $221.3 million contract extension with San Antonio on his quest to end up West. Instead, he’s ended up North and East.
But that huge deal isn’t the only one Kawhi has walked away from this year, with the forward aslo turning down a four-year, $22 Million extension with Jordan Brand. and according to ESPN’s Nick DePaula, Nike will ‘let him walk’.
Kawhi and Jordan Brand are parting ways — where do y’all think he’ll end up? ? #houseofheat
A post shared by HOUSE OF HEAT (@houseofheat) on Jul 25, 2018 at 5:16am PDT
Leonard now joins Drake as the second high-profile endorser to leave Jumpman, and joins fellow NBA stars Joel Embiid and Gordon Hayward in sneaker free agency. But despite his individual accolades, Kawhi’s marketability has always been in question, with his introverted personality, low social profile and conduct over the past 12 months potentially playing a role in his future endorsements.
We’ll keep you updated with more info as the Kawhi saga continues.
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