Why Did Joel Embiid Ditch Under Armour for Skechers?

The sneaker culture and basketball are almost synonymous. Most of the popular sneakers in the market have either a direct or indirect connection to an NBA athlete. Joel Embiid is among those who boast a lucrative sneaker deal. However, he has now switched sides and gone with Skechers for his latest range of sneakers.

Although Embiid previously had a landmark deal with Under Armour and had put out several outstanding collections, he is no longer associated with the brand. While he already has a new range lined up with Skechers, the reason behind ending the Under Armour deal is interesting.

Joel Embiid’s Skechers deal

Embiid is among the finest talents in the league. Last season, the Philadelphia 76ers center was declared the league MVP after a startling season. Back in October 2018, Embiid had signed a multi-year sneakers deal with Under Armour. Embiid started his project with Under Armour with the hope of making it “bigger than basketball.” He had said that although the game has given him everything, he wishes to achieve bigger things with this collaboration. More importantly, Embiid’s main motive was to make his brother proud with this deal.

However, recently it was revealed that the 76ers star is inking another deal with Skechers. This will put an end to the collaboration with Under Armour. As per Shams Charania of The Athletic, Embiid is closing in on the deal with Skechers. He reported that the company has launched a basketball division and soon may be finalizing the deal with the 29-year-old. There are a few other stars who are lined up for the new basketball division of Skechers, but Embiid will remain the biggest star and the highlight of their new project.

If he stayed with Under Armour, he wouldn’t have that privilege.

Why did Joel Embiid leave Under Armour?

A project that he had started with a lot of thought and hope has finally come to an end. There are a lot of speculations as to what made Embiid not continue with the brand. While the deal with Under Armour came to an end last week, there is one other reason why the 6x NBA All-Star might not wish to continue. Unlike with Skechers, Embiid wasn’t the biggest NBA star at Under Armour, with Stephen Curry being in the picture.

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So for him to think that he’d rather be the biggest athlete on another brand’s poster seems like a reasonable decision. However, we will have to wait a little while before Embiid and Skechers release their collection.

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