Kawhi Leonard won't be rocking Air Jordans for much longer, as the Toronto Raptors All-Star forward has reportedly agreed to a multi-year sneaker endorsement deal with New Balance.
Terms of the deal have not yet been revealed but ESPN's Nick DePaula reports that New Balance likely offered significantly more than $5 million per year, which would eclipse Jordan Brand's four-year, $22 million extension that Leonard turned down earlier this year. The 27-year old forward has been rocking the Air Jordan 32 Low on court this season, despite the fact that his endorsement deal with Jordan expired on October 1.
Of course, New Balance hasn't been relevant in the basketball space for quite some time so news of Kawhi's shoe deal has brought out all the comedians on twitter.
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As of now it's unknown if Kawhi will be receiving his own signature New Balance shoe, or if he'll lace up the brand's new basketball sneaker - whatever that may be. Thus far, the only other basketball player to join New Balance's roster is 2019 NBA prospect Darius Bazley, who withdrew from Syracuse and is currently making $1 million as an intern with the company.
In his first year with the Raptors, Leonard is averaging 24.3 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.8 steals per game while leading Toronto to an NBA-best 18-4 record.
