Saturday, June 05, 2004
gotta be the shoes
The Oregonian's John Canzano rolls out the conspiracy theory (of sorts):Telfair should be headed to Louisville to play for Rick Pitino. But he's not.
Adidas made sure of it. The sneaker company, woefully overshadowed after losing both LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony to Nike, needed to do something.
It needed Telfair.
And Telfair ended up needing Adidas because what kid in his right mind is going to turn down a six-year deal worth $1 million to $2 million annually?
You could see the deal coming. Telfair has been a regular at the Adidas ABCD summer camp. Also, his high school and summer league coach, Dwayne "Tiny" Morton, has deep Adidas ties. But all of this sneaker interference sort of makes you wonder where the marketing hype ends and the basketball player begins.
But I buy it. Telfair, a flashy point guard with great passing ability but limited shooting prowess, is headed towards the NBA rather than Louisville in large part due to the influence of Adidas -- the company's agents, camps, coaches, and money. A darn shame.
