Kevin Durant To Stay With Nike, Under Armour’s Offer Matched
Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant is staying with Nike after all. Durant who was being lured to transfer to new brand Under Armour, has reportedly agreed to a 10-year deal worth $300 million with Nike on Sunday.
According to a separate report, the deal will also include a $50 million retirement package.
The new huge deal is considered one of the of the richest in the history of the sports brand. Nike was forced to give Durant the large endorsement contract after Under Armour, which are relatively new players in the sports brand scene, offered the OKC star somewhere between $265 million to $285 million.
The deal means Durant will be using Nikes until 2024 and will be earning way more than his actual NBA contract with the Thunder which is roughly at around $20 million per year.
KD took to Twitter to announce his stay with Nike:
Excited and humbled to sign back with the swoosh!
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) September 1, 2014
And LeBron James, his NBA rival and fellow Nike endorser is happy that Durant stayed with the sports brand:
Happy to have the homie @KDTrey5 stayin with the @Nike @nikebasketball family! Congrats my brother! Like Dj Khalid would say "We The Best"!! — LeBron James (@KingJames) September 1, 2014
"For Nike, this was nothing to them," Wall Street analyst Omar Saad said via ESPN. "They could easily build Durant's business enough, assuming normal margins, where they could generate a cash flow of $60 million a year. And Nike is really good at monetizing its marketing assets, way better than anyone else."
Durant was named the 2014 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) after another sterling season with averages of 32.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.3 steals in 81 games for the Thunder last season.