Report: Houston Rockets guard Jeremy Lin will switch from Nike to Adidas

Remember the “Linsanity” craze? Well, the career arc of former Knicks and current Rockets point guard Jeremy Lin has leveled off a bit since those early days in the Big Apple, but that hasn’t stopped him from gaining significant interest on the shoe market. Lin has spent his career as a representative of Nike, but now, reports indicate that he’ll be switching sides in the almighty sneaker war.

Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com reports the following:

"Houston Rockets G Jeremy Lin has agreed to a shoe deal with adidas, thus departing Nike, a league source informed CSNNW.com.The source spoke on condition of anonymity due to adidas having yet to have made an official announcement on the agreement. According to the source, the announcement will come on Friday."

Obviously, we have to recognize that this is simply a report and not a confirmed announcement just yet, but it should make some significant waves. Lin certainly isn’t an elite player by on-court standards, but he has been better than most people think this season (14.1 points, 4.2 assists per game with an above-average PER of 16.41), and that has kept him relevant.

The huge “get” for Adidas is simply Lin’s popularity, both nationwide and worldwide, and that is perfectly illustrated by this season’s NBA All-Star voting. Lin currently sits fourth in the Western Conference among guards (behind only Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, and Stephen Curry), and that ranks him above legitimate superstars like James Harden and Russell Westbrook. It’s clear that Lin’s game doesn’t translate quite to the level of those guys, but his popularity hasn’t evaporated, and he could certainly help Adidas in the long run if he continues to play and perform effectively.