Even if basketball has the biggest league happening in America, it is no less popular in China. The people of the country are huge fans of the sport, and if any team visits them, they treat it as if it is a very big deal. But unfortunately, none of the brands of China have any participation or contribution in the market for endorsing or sponsoring. The country’s players wear American brands like Nike’s Air Jordan’s – the most popular brand among basketball players or NBA players.
Moreover, the stigma of Chinese brands being cheap in quality makes it difficult for them to compete at par with other big brands for basketball. But that stigma has been broken, especially when it came to basketball, as Dwayne Wade – an NBA player – signed with Chinese sports company Li-Ning in 2013. Later on, he signed a lifetime deal with the company in 2018.
The Li-Ning company was started by a former gymnast, who also participated in Olympics, Li Ning. The company’s goal was to set a national brand that was pretty rare since everyone mostly wore the western brands. Initially, it did not get any popularity, but ever since the teams of China wore Li-Ning in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, its popularity really shot up. And the same happened when NBA players started putting on the Li ning basketball shoes.
We already know about Dwayne Wade, but here are some other NBA players wearing this Chinese brand.
- CJ Mccollum – During the off-season in 2017, this star player of the Portland trailblazers signed up with li ning. After Wade, he was the most popular player to do that. Before signing with li ning, he was partnered with Nike. Apparently, he became familiar with the brand because of his brother.
- Evan Turner – Evan Turner, a popular player from the Atlanta Hawks wing, sported wearing the li ning sonic 7 and the YuShai 11 and YuShai 12 for his games. His former teammate Mccollum, who he played with from 2016 to 2019, stated that Turner encouraged him to wear this Chinese brand.
- Micheal Carter Williams – This former rookie of the year signed for wearing the lining basketball shoes. He played for the Houston rockets for only 16 games before he transferred.
This tells us the growing popularity of this particular Chinese sports brand in the western market, especially in the NBA games. The players have been seen sporting more and more Chinese companies apart from li ning, like Anta, who has signed up with one of the most popular NBA players. We can know how this brand has debunked the saying of China producing low-quality goods. Sports like basketball or football are such that footwear plays a major role in playing the game. If the shoes are of low quality or do not last long and experience wear and tear after just a few games, they can get bad for the players. But li ning proved to be trustworthy if it attracts the international audience, especially these popular players to wear their products. This shows that the li ning basketball shoes are reliable and the real deal.
For more information, visit https://www.shopnings.com/