The Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton has landed a new shoe deal with Puma, and the company is making it charitable. The world’s largest sneaker manufacturer is launching a limited edition of its Crazy Explosive line in celebration of the player’s commitment to giving back.
Deandre Ayton has landed a new shoe deal with Puma. The Phoenix Suns center will be donning the brand’s latest sneaker, which is set to release in October.
11:51 a.m. Eastern
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ESPN’s Nick DePaula
Deandre Ayton of the Phoenix Suns has signed a multiyear footwear and gear endorsement contract with Puma, which he previously signed with in 2018 to help relaunch the brand’s basketball division.
“It’s well-lit. It’s also a true blessing “According to Ayton. “I wanted to be distinctive, so I signed with Puma from the beginning.”
The new contract, negotiated by Innovate Sports Group agent Nima Namakian, is likely to put Ayton among the league’s top-three highest-paid sports brand endorsers at the center position. Puma has been reestablishing itself in the hoop area following a nearly two-decade break from signing NBA endorsers, and Ayton has a lengthy history with the brand.
“Puma was the first brand I wore while I was growing up in the Bahamas. Puma was the only thing we saw “he said “That was the only thing a person like Usain Bolt, who I looked up to as a Caribbean star and the face of the Caribbean when it came to athletics, was repping. Puma was all over the place.”
After helping to highlight a marketing splash in the week preceding up to the 2018 draft that saw five first-round choices sign with Puma, the former No. 1 pick has continued to make progress with the brand on and off the court in the last three years.
On the court, he’ll continue to promote Puma’s newest hoop models like the Court Rider and RS Dreamer, but a big part of Ayton’s new Puma deal will be allocating a big budget for community activations and giveback activities.
“We come from a family of givers. When you’re a kid, you don’t come to my home without leaving with a full stomach “With a grin on his face, Ayton said.
The “RS-X Deandre” was the first, a sneaker inspired by the sandy beaches of the Bahamas that donated funds for his hometown in the wake of Hurricane Dorian. He gave the first pair to Bolt in a full-circle occasion. Ayton laced the whole Suns staff with Pumas during the summer.
He recently took a family of six on a shopping spree at a Puma store in New York, and he and his mother, Andrea, are planning future giveback activities in Phoenix, the Bahamas, and other Caribbean and African locations.
He stated, “She’s been collaborating with Puma and giving her ideas on how she can give back.” “Seeing it, it brings back memories of our childhood. I grew up wearing secondhand clothing, and being able to aid families and bring smiles on their cheeks is a dream I never imagined would come true.”
The Aytons have been trying to make an impression, whether it was with a shopping trip in New York or recent food contributions over the Christmas season.
He remarked, “Every family I’ve met has gone with a grin on their face.” “The effects of these incidents, as well as the letters that are left at the institution, are mad. Even my mother receives fan mail.”
Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images Ayton’s special Puma Court Rider
Ayton has mostly worn a bespoke pair of Court Riders in Suns colors this season, with his “DA” emblem above the toe and his nickname “DOMINAYTON” around the heel.
“There’s some satisfaction in being able to see your own brand on the sneaker you’re wearing,” he remarked. “It just motivates you to play harder and better, and it is your sneaker. It serves as inspiration to keep working hard and creating new things.”
Ayton is joined on a balanced Puma team by LaMelo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, RJ Barrett, and more than a dozen others in Puma’s fourth NBA season back in the game. The firm also boasts four WNBA players, which led to the debut of its Puma Women’s Basketball line recently.
Ayton said, “That’s extremely bright.” “Everyone needs the opportunity to just let their imagination run wild. It was exciting to see anything like that on a platform like Puma. It’s incentive for me as well, because I want to show off my ideas and what I’ve got, so a great compliments to them.”
He lists being an All-Star, a Defensive Player of the Year contender, and a two-way pillar for the contending Suns as critical objectives in order to maintain his brand’s prominence. After a playoff run that earned him his first trip to the NBA Finals this summer, Ayton and his family flew back to the Bahamas aboard The Puma Jet, the company’s exclusive private jet for players.
“I was starting to feel like a trendsetter. It meant something to be in that position and representing our business, knowing that I was a part of it [from the start] “he said “I had the impression that I was the one who could lead the herd. There was obviously some pride involved, and we’ll be in fantastic shape because I’m a winner.”
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