Browsing the "Dwyane Wade" Tag
DWYANE WADE Dwyane Wade is a Jordan Brand athlete. He has his own signature line of sneakers called the Jordan Fly Wade. Dwyane Wade currently plays for the Miami Heat and played college basketball at Marquette.
October 9th, 2012 by John K.
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Thanks to the covert updates that Sneaker News has kept you up on, you already know that Dwyane Wade has made a huge change in his sneaker career, allowing his Jordan Brand contract to expire and linking up with Chinese sportswear entity Li-Ning. Tomorrow marks the 10/10 date hinted at by Wade on which the partnership is expected to officially be announced, but we’ve got some more photos and info ahead of that to shed light on the situation. First of all, Wade will have his sub-brand known simply as ‘Wade’, with an apparel line that he will have executive control over thrown in the mix. Secondly, reports have the line launching in China “soon” with an expected US arrival in Spring 2013.
During this big-time change for one of the league’s biggest athletes (#MakeTheChange being the apparent name of the campaign), some more insight has been given on the Wade/Jordan Brand split, with Wade speaking on the subject with “In the end, the pros outweighed the cons, Jordan might have that cool factor, but I’m at a different point in my career. I want to be involved in building something.” There’s no doubt that this new endorsement has given him that building opportunity, letting him carve out his own path and create a footwear legacy independent influence from any other Chicago heroes. You can expect to see Wade rocking his new Li-Ning’s on the regular at a couple upcoming exhibition matches out in China, with the in-game pairs to be auctioned off afterwards, thus becoming the first ever Wade x Li-Ning sneakers up for grabs. Click through with us to get the latest look at Dwyane Wade’s Li-Ning prototypes and check back tomorrow for more on the official dawn of the Wade/Li-Ning era.
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October 9th, 2012 by Aaron Hope
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It’s not unprecedented to move on from Jordan Brand after a cash-wielding upstart brand comes a-callin’ (Jason Kidd comes to mind, though he’s known to have shifted sneaker loyalties like he drops dimes), but still taking some time go get used to Dwyane Wade signing with Li-Ning. More looks at the finished product will no doubt ease us into this new era, and D-Wade himself is happy to oblige during a moment of downtime while touring the home country of his new sponsors. Wade’s first Li-Ning signature appears alongside a ’10/10′ logo whose inscribed 0s remind us this is the Miami sneaker journeyman’s tenth year in the league, too, and even without the Jumpman, he’s still a ’1 of 1′-type elite talent (or is there still a slim chance that it’s a reference to a Wednesday official debut?). Don’t let the official NBA cap by adidas fool you; ‘Agent D3′, ‘Flash’ or whatever his new label decides to brand the two-time NBA Champ and gold medalist is with Li-Ning now and you can see a teaser of Li-Ning Wades to come below.
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October 7th, 2012 by Brendan Dunne
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It’s here. One of the league’s biggest stars has ended his long standing relationship with one of the league’s most prominent outfitter of on-court sneakers, Dwyane Wade going a little left of field in his signing with Chinese athletic company Li-Ning. And what will be first up to kick off this new era in his sneaker career? You’re looking at it. The model, the name of which is still unclear, steers clear of any Heat colors at the moment, building off a clean black and white colorway with some wink and nod D-Wade elements like that slick ‘W’ set up at the front end of the lace placket and the various ‘Wade’ hits about. Click through to check out the first solid shots of the Dwyane Wade Li-Ning silhouette and drop us your thoughts in the comments below.
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October 5th, 2012 by Brendan Dunne
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Having officially switched sponsors, Dwyane Wade is no doubt eager to get right to work in testing out his new Li-Ning sneaker, a model which will mark his tenth season in the NBA and his first under the newly established Li-Ning signing. Of course we don’t know the name of the model yet, or any release info, heck we haven’t even seen any official images. But what we can show you is this, D-Wade putting in some practice hours in the all new design. Click through with us to check out some sneaky shots of Dwyane Wade’s Li-Ning model and stick with Sneaker News as the story develops.
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October 2nd, 2012 by Brendan Dunne
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With Dwyane Wade officially exiting the house that Michael built, it didn’t take very long for Li-Ning and Wade to make their connection known. The preview shown comes from the Instagram of Flash himself, with the ominous caption of #10/10, a possible allusion to this being his 10th season in the NBA, or perhaps even an earlier than expected release date. Right off the bat, we see ‘WADE’ and a unique W-shaped lacing system, so clearly Li-Ning had something prepared for the superstar. Click through with us to check out the first ever shot from the newly minted partnership between Dwyane Wade and Li-Ning and let us know in the comments below how you think these will compare to Wade’s now extinct lineup of Jordan Brand models.
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October 1st, 2012 by John K.
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Roughly one month ago a report of a potential split between Jordan Brand and its purported top-level athlete/representative Dwyane Wade created some interesting discussion among our readers. Wade is indeed one of the star athletes of the entire NBA and certainly one of the few multi-Championship All-Stars that are still active in the game, but in Wade’s case, his star status both on and off the court didn’t translate into major sales numbers or anything remotely close to the standards of the Air Jordan legacy. Even in Sneaker News’ recent Jordan Brand Holiday 2012/Spring 2013 preview, anything remotely ‘Wade’ wasn’t in sight, which pretty much said what needed to be said without words. In any case, Wade’s contract with the brand that started in 2009 has seen its inevitable end, and it is now confirmed by current Li-Ning brand endorsee Evan Turner of the Philadelphia Sixers that Dwyane Wade has indeed joined Chinese athletic brand Li-Ning.
While no break-up is ever worth a celebration, this business decision looks to benefit both sides; the Fly Wade series experienced mediocre-at-best sales and perhaps didn’t justify his annual salary (one that would’ve needed to be raised or been in at the same rate in order to keep him), but the flipside may reveal that Wade is likely getting a generous endorsement contract as well as major marketing potential in China, where NBA stars are as heavily praised as they are in the States. It’s a move that gives Wade what he’s looking for (more international fame and relevance and more dollars) while allowing Jordan Brand a ‘fresh start’ of sorts with either a new line of performance basketball footwear or maybe even another signature athlete down the line. Your thoughts on Wade’s decision to jump to Li-Ning? Any suggestions as to who can step up and be Jordan Brand’s third guy?
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August 22nd, 2012 by Brendan Dunne
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The subject of sneakers has marched back into the mouths of the mainstream media this week, with quite a few outlets commenting on that $315 price tag that’s being slapped on to the Nike+ version of the Nike LeBron 10. So all of a sudden the typical topics that you see on sites like ours is getting lip service from less sneaker focused but still sports-centric publications – the widely subscribed Sports Illustrated being one of them. Sticking with the theme of the athlete/sneaker relationship they’ve dug up an impressive gallery of guys and gals from various sports caught with their footwear, some shots featuring signature silhouettes and some featuring models that were merely played in from time to time. Click through for the huge gallery that spans a good chunk of years with athletes like Wilt Chamberlain, Usain Bolt, Tim Duncan, Chamique Holdsclaw, Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury, Ryan Lochte, and Jeremy Lin all featured and less us know if you think this is the beginning of sports media getting much more involved in the sneaker game.
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August 17th, 2012 by John K.
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In July of 2009, Jordan Brand executed a major power move in the sneaker endorsement game by adding the explosive Dwyane Wade to its roster; Wade, who was free from his contractual obligations with Converse Basketball, was free to explore his options – and plenty of suitors were certainly lining up for his services. Already having an NBA Championship under his belt, being rooted in Chicago, and playing in a similar manner to Michael Jordan himself, Wade and Jordan Brand seemed like a match made in heaven. Jordan seemed to have found the perfect heir to the Jordan throne and the brand’s legacy gained a stable backbone that would stabilize the mission for the next several years.
After being issued the Air Jordan flagship model that season, Dwyane Wade was finally presented with his first official signature shoe called the Jordan Fly Wade in April of 2011, and later, in December, the sequel named the Jordan Fly Wade 2 (in addition to the EV model for the Playoffs) followed. The Wade models immediately surpassed the longer-running Jordan Melo and Jordan CP3 line in price, indirectly appointing the Fly Wade as the top-tier Jordan Brand performance basketball model. However, in spite of Wade’s championship pedigree, his elite status in the NBA, and his celebrity-like recognition in Miami (and having an actress as a girlfriend), the Jordan and Wade partnership never really took off into the stratosphere like they had anticipated; sales of the Jordan Fly Wade were mediocre and it never made as much as a dent in the ‘lifestyle’ constituency, where Air Jordans, LeBrons, Kobes, and KDs reign king.
With Dwyane Wade’s contract with Jordan Brand coming to an end this summer, Wade is now back to where he was in 2009 – but he may be looking elsewhere to cash in. On the flip-side, Jordan Brand needs to weigh its options as well; Wade is reportedly paid $10 million a year from Jordan Brand, a price that may not make any fiscal sense if the Jordan Fly Wade line of footwear and apparel doesn’t earn enough to make the investment worth their while. In addition, reports of a cancellation of the Jordan Fly Wade 3 model has also pointed to Dwyane Wade moving on from Jordan Brand, and rumors of a potential move to Chinese athletic apparel brand Li-Ning, which already employs a number of NBA players, has only made a potential Wade/Jordan split more of a reality. Thoughts on this potential swing? Would Li Ning’s efforts in the US be more recognized if it added Wade as its flagship endorser? Who would Jordan Brand potentially replace Dwyane Wade with? This is certainly an interesting development so let us know what your thoughts are and we’ll keep you posted as more unfolds.
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