The New Balance basketball roster, Jamal Murray, Kawhi Leonard, Cameron Brink, Tyrese Maxey, Zach Lavine and Dejounte Murray, gained a new teammate. Darius Garland’s ski is rising in the League and while he’s in a small market he fits the mold of the athletes New Balance has decided to partner with in hoops.
In a recent discussion on this site, basketball sneaker sales were found to be seasonal. While hoops shoes once dominated the landscape of sneaker culture and sales, they have taken a backseat to casual athletic footwear, slides and sandals. Running shoes have a broader scope of influence, so although New Balance has a couple of the last NBA champions on their roster in Kawhi and Jamal Murray data shows that basketball isn’t improving in sales for NB.
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How will Garland Help New Balance?
In many of Darius’ casual images on IG he is sporting Nike footwear. This could imply that this is a financial play for the All-ski point guard. With 505,000 followers and engagement at around 10%, New Balance has an athlete who is a viable branding partner, but with Jamal Murray and Kawhi not being able to generate considerable interest in New Balance hoops sneakers, which are the best priced hooping shoes on the market, this is probably not a play to engage the U.S. consumer.
China is an incredibly big market for the NBA and Garland is the type of player that is perfectly suited for that demographic. When you consider Kobe is the most famous NBA player in China and Steph Curry is fast gaining ground as the most popular player there, a perimeter oriented, rising point guard with a lot of years ahead of him could offer New Balance a better option than an aging Kawhi and an understated deferential PG in Jamal Murray. Is this a great signing for NB? Any athlete with half a million followers is great for branding, but it’s to be seen if Garland and the Cavs can get back to the pinnacle of the sport.