The comparisons between the 2019 No. 1 pick of the New Orleans Pelicans Zion Williamson and LeBron James will likely only continue thanks to the reports about Williamson’s shoe deal with the Jordan brand.
The brand of Michael Jordan released a statement about the Zion signing, as well as ads across the street from Staples Center. And Williamson’s deal isn’t that far away from the deal LeBron himself signed with Nike in 2003, prior to being drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers. According to Adam Zagoria at Forbes, Williamson’s deal is seven years, $75 million dollars.
LeBron’s first deal, which was reportedly worth $90 million, still remains an industry standard to this day. Many believed that Williamson’s following and electricity would earn him LeBron-like numbers, which they did. While nobody can replicate the type of excitement that was the LeBron phenomenon back in the early 2000s, Williamson is the closest a rookie has come in a long time to replicating that type of shoe contract without having played an NBA game.
LeBron also reportedly had offers of upwards of $100 million from Reebok in his negotiations and those types of numbers have yet to come to the surface with regards to Zion.
Although it’s not the same, it’s certainly notable and worthy of the comparison.
