Some of those HEB commercials got a chuckle out of me tbh. This. At first I wondered how Adidas was even remotely competing with Nike in terms of market share, despite having only two all-stars signed on with them. Then I noticed how so many star players signed on with Nike don't even have their own shoe. Nike seems to run their basketball endorsements like how Standard Oil went about buying up oil fields in Texas during the great depression. Instead of using the resource to market and sell your own product, they buy them up solely to keep them out of the hands of competition.
That's how shoe deals work. Very few players get their own signature sneakers since it's a BIG investment to have their designers to create a line for a player, and then market it. Shoe deals mostly involve with just giving out money to restrict that player from wearing anything else and promoting their own current shoe lines. Very few players can actually sell their own shoe line. The more people wear a brand, the better the brand recognition is, like billboard ads that reinforces brand recognition.
Yeah, I didn't mean to rebuff you. Just wanted to make my point that having family as agent may not necessarily mean it's a good thing.
I.E. Jordan Brand and my uncle told me if I want that big player's contract and that big endorsement deal, I better get out there and play.
Okay someone fill me in, what happened here? I mean I know the injury and whatnot but I know he had returned for a stint, what went wrong? How could someone not want to come back (healthy) and not play for the Spurs with no sort of contract negotiations or anything like that. And now the shoe deal that he wants a better contract?
It all starts with the injury itself. Tendinopathy is a hard thing to diagnose, and cure. The only remedy really is rest followed by rehab, which has a chance of re-aggravating the injury. I believe doctors were saying that even though he was medically cleared to play, ultimately it would come down to Kawhi believing that he could give it a go. I think I read that he felt like his leg was NOT getting stronger, and that he wasn't comfortable playing on it, which led him to believe that the team had betrayed him by not supporting him.
Damn......thats just wild. Knew it had to be something like that because there just isnt no way you dont play for that team (I mean if you like them or whatever which I dont. F the Spurs)
This is bizarre. It really does seem like he's quit on the Spurs and wants out. Has this ever happened in the Popovich era? Rodman doesn't count since Pop was still GM and Bob Hill was coaching at the time.
guess maybe he won't play this year? really crazy situation going on with kawhi. does he not trust his body or does he want out with the spurs?
Popovich is no poster-boy for keeping stars happy. Without Duncan, Parker would have left a long time ago. LMA doesn't really get along with him either. Since there aren't many superstars/HOFers in each franchise: The bigger question is name all the coaches who never blew it so bad with a franchise player, they mutinied. I'll start with Rudy T and JVG. This is one of the reasons I've never liked Pops. He's always had a touch of Bobby Knight in him. Duncan's demeanor and willingness to back Pops to keep others in line has allowed Pops to survive his choppy relationships and actually become a good guy ... yet, then he goes and loses one of the most quiet and hardworking players in this era -- Kawhi. Color me not surprised. inb4 all the defenders of Pops who *must* figure out how to blame this on the superstar player, when they never would in any other situation considering Kawhi ranks up with Duncan in behavior and hardwork. ?? There is no evidence that Parker and Ginobody cannot stand Kawhi. Where does that come from? I know Pops is probably ordering everyone to not discuss things with the media, but the fact it is so contained probably also means no one really hates Kawhi (making it very easy to contain), like you are assuming.
The Aldridge rumors about him begging for a trade were out there for a while. But then he went and reupped with the Spurs. It's well known that Parker and Pop butted heads for years, but eventually they seemed to make peace and Parker became one of the best PGs in the league and won a Finals MVP in 2007. I'm not saying Pop hasn't had his issues with players, but it always seemed like he could make it work in the long run. Something seems different this time around with Kawhi. Maybe the absence of Duncan as a peacemaker really is being underscored. He's basically been there the entire time Pop's been coaching aside from that tanking season and the last 2 years.
Put me in the betting pool for him staying after next season. Unlike some cf members, I highly doubt spurs will panic trade him for Wiggins and some scratch and sniff draft picks.
