Zion Sneaker Speculation Heats Up

Things appear to be falling in place for Zion Williamson in many respects now. He knows he’s likely to start his NBA career with the New Orleans Pelicans after they won the draft lottery. He signed with CAA this week and now has not one but two agents handling his account. And with agents on the case, endorsements will now begin to be arranged.

His biggest endorsement is likely to be for shoes and there is speculation that Nike has already won that war since Williamson has been seen wearing Nikes.

We’d just like to point out that that doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s committed to Nike, although we can’t see Nike allowing itself to get outbid here. What we can guarantee you is this:

1. Nike sent a pile of shoes to Durham after his notorious blowout vs. UNC and we’re guessing he still has some floating around if he so chooses
2. Nike and everyone else have been sending him samples as they court his business

As in Michael Jordan’s case, Nike has no doubt been busy customizing shoes to Williamson’s unique physical requirements (Nike won Jordan over by telling him they could do whatever he wanted with his shoes).

The UNC blowout was a serious blow to Nike’s image if not reputation, but the sneaker giant was in Durham within hours to find a solution that worked for Williamson. That level of commitment was both smart business and bound to have made an impression.

That said, it wasn’t long ago that Williamson was wearing Adidas stuff and getting people all worked up over that. He just signed with CAA this week so we wouldn't expect negotiations to have gone very far yet and wouldn’t read too much into this until there is an actual announcement.