UPDATE October 18: According to NBA insider Shams Charania, Joel Embiid is preparing to ink a deal with Skechers that will make him the face of its new basketball division. This follows the news that Embid will represent Team USA next year in the Paris Olympics. Embiid started his career in adidas before signing a 5-year deal with Under Armour in 2018. While Embiid had four signature sneakers with UA, the partnership didn’t produce the excitement people would expect from a player of Embid’s caliber and personality.
With the NBA season approaching, media day provided fans with a first look at their team’s new rosters and of course, what sneakers players were rocking. We saw the usual Jordan retros and Kobe PEs, but it was a pair of Skechers that had everybody talking. The same unidentified pair was spotted on Los Angeles Clippers forward Terrance Mann and New York Knicks All-Star Julius Randle. Details about the sneaker or potential contracts have not been made public, but wearing them on media day was no accident. Mann, who most recently played in ANTAs, was spotted in a different pair earlier this summer working out. Randle has been wearing Nikes since entering the league.
Continuing to fuel rumors, Randle posted a photo of him and Skechers Founder and CEO Robert Greenberg on Instagram Stories. There are no performance basketball sneakers available on the Skechers website but the brand may be preheating a launch soon with two starters in key markets. There is more brand diversity in the league and market than ever before, so now is as good of a time as ever for Skechers to make a play.
