Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving has now signed a five-year contract with the Chinese shoe company ANTA.
Shams Charania of The Athletic announced Irving’s deal on Twitter, which comes after his contract with the Brooklyn Nets ended following his protest over the NBA’s coronavirus vaccine policy. The deal also reportedly makes “Irving the Chief Creative Officer at the company,” according to Yahoo Sports.
“Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving has signed a five-year endorsement deal with Chinese sportswear brand ANTA, plus the unique position of Chief Creative Officer at the company, industry sources told @TheAthletic @Stadium. Irving’s management company, A11Even, negotiated the deal,” Charania said.
“The lucrative new shoe deal for Irving will also give him the ability to recruit/sign players and other collaborators, and bring a level of manufacturing to the United States to kickstart ANTA’s process to fully distribute in US,” he added.
The lucrative new shoe deal for Irving will also give him the ability to recruit/sign players and other collaborators, and bring a level of manufacturing to the United States to kickstart ANTA’s process to fully distribute in US. https://t.co/mmelAU9Ffp
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 12, 2023
“Irving reached a deal to return to the Mavericks on a three-year, $126 million deal last month in what was by far his best, and perhaps only, option in free agency. Irving was first traded to Dallas in February in a deal that sent Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith to the Brooklyn Nets after Irving’s latest trade request,” noted Yahoo Sports.
“He averaged 27 points, six assists, and five rebounds in 20 games for the Mavericks while dealing with a foot injury. The Mavericks finished the season 9-18 after Irving’s arrival, and fell from sixth place in the Western Conference to 11th and out of the playoffs,” it added.
Kyrie Irving, #2 of the Dallas Mavericks, drives against Trae Young, #11 of the Atlanta Hawks, during the second quarter at State Farm Arena on April 02, 2023, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Though Irving had an endorsement deal with Nike, the athletics company severed its ties to Irving over his promotion of a documentary that pushed Black Hebrew Israelite ideas about Jewish people.
“At Nike, we believe there is no place for hate speech, and we condemn any form of antisemitism,” Nike said in a statement last year. “To that end, we’ve made the decision to suspend our relationship with Kyrie Irving effective immediately and will no longer launch the Kyrie 8. We are deeply saddened and disappointed by the situation and its impact on everyone.”
As Breitbart News previously reported, American lawmakers sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2022 demanding an explanation for the “IOC’s business deals with two Chinese apparel companies that source their cotton out of Xinjiang, a far-west occupied region where evidence suggests widespread use of slave labor.”
“Two companies contracted to provide uniforms to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics have overt ties to the Xinjiang cotton industry: the Chinese sportswear giant Anta Sports and the textile company Hengyuanxiang Group (HYX Group). The heads of the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) wrote to IOC President Thomas Bach on Wednesday demanding answers to the details of the IOC’s relationship with the companies in question,” Breitbart News reported.
Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021. He also directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. A high-quality, ad-free stream can also be purchased on Google Play or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.