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#1 Face of the company
Until recently, most sportswear suppliers believed that the NBA was an impossible market to break into, due to the dominance of Nike, and to a lesser degree, Adidas. Steph Curry and Under Armour changed all this, as their partnership has demonstrated that superstar athletes sell shoes, no matter what the brand.
Puma also returned to the NBA market over the summer, sponsoring a number of the most buzzworthy draft picks. It appears that New Balance now wants in on the NBA action, and the company obviously believes that Kawhi Leonard is the man who can help them make some noise. Leonard is one of the best players in the NBA who is currently entering his prime, although it remains to be seen if the All-Star can move shoes for New Balance.
The Raptors man does not generate the same type of fanbase that players like Steph Curry and LeBron James attract, and Leonard is also notably absent from social media. The player's private nature means that he rarely conducts interviews or attends media events so New Balance may require the 27-year-old to be more prominent in the public eye going forward.
With all things considered, it will be interesting to see over the coming months whether New Balance's sponsorship of Leonard has any effect on their basketball market share.
