Puma is getting back into the basketball shoe game, if you haven’t noticed, and they’re doing it via a gigantic youth movement. Kevin Knox is the latest NBA rookie to sign with the apparel company, adding to an already-impressive list of members of the 2018 NBA Draft class to do so.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported the deal on Tuesday, as the New York Knicks draft pick will wear Puma shoes when he takes the court at the Garden this fall.
New York Knicks rookie Kevin Knox — the No. 9 overall pick in June — has signed a multiyear endorsement deal with Puma, sources say.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 5, 2018
At this point, Terry Rozier and Rudy Gay are the wily veterans of the group, but the renewed effort to take a bite out of the hoops shoe market is real. The WNBA is on board, as well, and Skylar Diggins showed off the Clyde Court Disrupts the second half of the WNBA season.
But the rookie list now under Puma’s wings really is something. Marvin Bagley signed a huge deal with Puma to jumpstart interest in a Puma basketball shoe. Michael Porter Jr., Zhaire Smith and first overall pick DeAndre Ayton are all with Puma, too.
Knox is a fan of underdogs, though. He thinks people are sleeping on the Knicks this season, and I’m sure he expects Puma to do big things, too. They certainly are putting the resources behind getting the word out that Clyde and company are back to the court in a big way.
