He’s a sole man
Russell Westbrook has extended a lucrative contract – but not the one Thunder fans have been hoping for. Westbrook has signed a 10-year extension with Jordan Brand, the Nike subsidiary that he’s endorsed since 2013.
Russell Westbrook has extended a lucrative contract – but not the one Thunder fans have been hoping for.
Westbrook has signed a 10-year extension with Jordan Brand, the Nike subsidiary that he’s endorsed since 2013, according to an ESPN report late Tuesday night.
Terms of the deal weren’t reported, but according to ESPN, Westbrook’s new contract – which will include on- and off-court signature shoes, a brand ambassador role beyond his playing career and an annual donation by Jordan Brand to his Why Not? Foundation – will be the most lucrative total endorsement deal ever for a Jordan Brand athlete.
It’s clear that means a financial boon for the Thunder point guard.
It’s unclear if the new deal will impact Westbrook’s thinking about his on-court future.
Monster shoe contracts like Westbrook’s are big business, and it’s reasonable to think he’ll be in the same financial stratosphere as former teammates Kevin Durant – who in 2014 signed a 10-year contract with Nike reportedly worth up to $300 million – and James Harden, whose 13-year deal with adidas started in 2015 and is worth a reported $200 million.
At first glance, that kind of money might make it less likely that Westbrook will lock himself into the fiveyear max contract extension he’s eligible to sign before the start of the season.
That deal would make Westbrook’s total Thunder contract a six-year deal worth more than $235 million, which would be the richest deal in NBA history. Westbrook has had the option of signing that contract since July 1 and has yet to do it.
One argument for signing it is the stability of locking in a lucrative contract. With Jordan Brand making him one of the NBA’s highest-paid pitchmen, he’s set with or without that six-year deal.
But Westbrook is a mystery, and there’s no sense of where he stands with signing the contract. And Durant and Harden took opposite approaches after signing their monster shoe contracts.
Durant hasn’t signed a long-term deal with a team since his Nike deal took effect.
In 2010, Durant signed a five-year deal with the Thunder that began at the start of the 2011-12 season. That contract ran through 2016, at which time Durant left in free agency for the Golden State Warriors on a twoyear deal with a player option for the second year.
Durant opted out of that contract this summer and signed another two-year deal with Golden State, again with a player option for the second year, meaning he can opt out after the upcoming season.
Harden’s adidas deal, on the other hand, didn’t stop him from locking in with the Rockets. This offseason, he signed a contract extension with the team that runs through the 2022-23 season and reportedly could be worth up to $228 million.
Money might not be the only factor in Westbrook’s extension decision.
If he wants his best chance to win a championship, it could be in Westbrook’s best interest to evaluate the Thunder’s roster next summer.
Both Westbrook and newly acquired star Paul George can opt out of their contracts at the end of the season, and at his introductory news conference, George said “hopefully” he and Westbrook could address their decisions together.
The only extension Westbrook can sign for now is the full five-year extension that would put him under contract with the Thunder for six more seasons. Next summer, he could sign for five years, or agree to a shorter deal with the chance to hit free agency sooner and give him the flexibility to opt out if things go sour in Oklahoma City.
Or Westbrook could choose next summer to opt out and sign somewhere else.
No matter his thought process, Jordan Brand has given Westbrook a new financial cushion as he weighs his options.