WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid has signed a shoe deal with Under Armour that will reportedly make the Cameroonian the highest paid center in the NBA.
Embiid, whose contract with adidas ended on September 30, confirmed the deal with a Twitter post and penned a first-person announcement released by Under Armour recalling his relatively late introduction to organized basketball in Cameroon.
He wrote about his younger brother, Arthur, who was killed in a car accident in Cameroon months after Embiid was drafted into the NBA, saying he wants “to do something that would make my brother proud.”
“Basketball has given me everything, but it has to be bigger than basketball, that was the first thing I said to Under Armour,” Embiid wrote. “I want to use this partnership to do something real.”
ESPN reported that the footwear and apparel endorsement deal is for five years, and said unnamed industry sources had told them the average annual value of the deal will make the 24-year-old the highest-paid center in the league.
According to ESPN Embiid was swayed by Under Armour’s commitment to contributing to charitable causes in the Philadelphia area and in Cameroon.
© Agence France-Presse
