According to a report, LSU Tigers freshman Ben Simmons could have a shoe deal worth more than $100 million in the NBA.
LSU Tigers freshman Ben Simmons is widely expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. His talent level has plenty of teams in the NBA tanking to acquire his services, in hopes of Simmons changing the outlook of their franchise.
Needless to say, there’s plenty of hype surrounding the forward and his talent level at the college level has certainly lived up to the expectations. With Simmons becoming the next young phenom in basketball, sponsors are going to be lining up to get him on their side.
Simmons will have plenty of shoe companies trying to endorse him and with the growing rate of endorsement deals, Simmons stands a strong chance to cash in big time with his first NBA shoe deal. According to Adam Zagoria SNY.tv, Simmons’ shoe deal could be worth in excess of $100 million.
Zagoria notes that Nike is the favorite to land Simmons’ services. Shoe expert Sonny Vaccaro told SNY.tv, that the precedent for Simmons’ deal was set by LeBron James.
"“The number doesn’t astonish me, the number’s been stagnant since LeBron,” grassroots sneaker guru Sonny Vaccaro told SNY.tv on Thursday. “It would be the new precedent because LeBron was the last and [Simmons] has the makings in the mind of the NBA that he could be a great, great player. So that’s basically what they’re saying, he’s going to get a $100 million deal. I would understand that.”"
The article further states that Simmons’ his former high school coach, Kevin Boyle, works for Nike-sponsored camps, which would give Nike the connection to getting Simmons’ services. He also had some custom LeBrons made for him this season, which would indicate that he’s probably bound to join the shoe giant.
It’s likely that other brands like Adidas and Under Armour will try to make a run at him, but Nike seems to be the favorite. Still, money talks and a bidding war could be in place to land Simmons on a shoe deal.