After spending the first four seasons of his career with Nike, Portland Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum has found a new endorsement partner.
McCollum took to his Twitter account yesterday to announce a partnership with Chinese company Li-Ning. Nick DePaula reports that it's a multi-year deal that was finalized after Nike declined its "matching rights."
I'm excited to announce my new parternship with the Li-Ning family. With hard work.. Anything is possible pic.twitter.com/6KiVAEPwqB
“I think this partnership with Li-Ning will be great,” McCollum told Blazers reporter Casey Holdahl. “Obviously being a Chinese brand, it’ll give me that exposure in the east and expose me to different opportunities, different potential partnerships on the business side in Asia. It’s just something that I’m really looking forward to. Having a teammate, Evan Turner, as a part of the brand, having talked with D Wade these last few months and building a relationship with him, I was able to gain a better understanding of the brand, where they’re heading and how I can be a part of that.”
McCollum was the NBA's Most Improved Player for the 2015-16 season and has averaged nearly 22 points per game the past two years. It's unclear whether or not a McCollum signature shoe is in the works, but he is expected to wear Li-Ning's YuShuai 11 and other models this season.
