D’Angelo Russell Has Signed A Sneaker Deal With Dwyane Wade’s ‘Way Of Wade’ Brand

D’Angelo Russell’s sneaker free agency has come to a close as the Warriors star guard will become the new on-court face of Dwyane Wade’s Way of Wade brand.

Wade and Russell made the announcement on Thursday morning, with Wade explaining that he sees some of himself in Russell, which is why he felt it was a “no-brainer” to bring him on board and “pass the torch” to Russell.

It’s always interesting when a star level player chooses to go a different route than one of the major American shoe brands, especially with even more options now that Puma and New Balance are back in the pro basketball business, and joining Way of Wade over Anta or some of the other bigger Chinese brands is also an interesting choice for Russell. It may end up being a savvy move, as he gets to be the face of the brand, which he wouldn’t be with Nike or adidas, while also getting some rub from Wade in the form of videos like this where the Hall of Famer says extremely nice things about the young guard’s game and style.

On the other side, Way of Wade is banking on Russell making last year’s All-Star nod something of a more regular occurrence and looking to capitalize on his being on the Warriors, which has built one of the largest overseas followings of any team in the NBA.