WASHINGTON, Oct 11, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid
has signed a shoe deal with Under Armour that will reportedly make the
Cameroonian the highest paid center in the NBA.
Embiid, whose contract with adidas ended on September 30, confirmed the
deal with a Twitter post and penned a first-person announcement released by
Under Armour recalling his relatively late introduction to organized
basketball in Cameroon.
He wrote about his younger brother, Arthur, who was killed in a car
accident in Cameroon months after Embiid was drafted into the NBA, saying he
wants “to do something that would make my brother proud.”
“Basketball has given me everything, but it has to be bigger than
basketball, that was the first thing I said to Under Armour,” Embiid wrote.
“I want to use this partnership to do something real.”
ESPN reported that the footwear and apparel endorsement deal is for five
years, and said unnamed industry sources had told them the average annual
value of the deal will make the 24-year-old the highest-paid center in the
league.
According to ESPN Embiid was swayed by Under Armour’s commitment to
contributing to charitable causes in the Philadelphia area and in Cameroon.