Renowned NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith feels Jaylen Brown can get a sneaker deal if the Boston Celtics go on to beat the Dallas Mavericks in the upcoming NBA Finals. Brown has been in fine form for the Celtics and played an instrumental role in their 4-0 clean sweep of the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals.
Smith said all the big names in the game have a sneaker deal and Brown can certainly join the elite club of players like LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Jayson Tatum.
“You know how many people out there got sneaker deals? AD and LeBron got a sneaker deal. Luka and Kyrie got a sneaker deal. Giannis and Dame got a sneaker deal. Everywhere you turn, the sneaker deals. Jayson Tatum got sneaker deals,” Smith said on Stephen A. Smith show.
“Where’s Jaylen Brown’s commercials? Where are his endorsement deals? Where’s his signature sneaker? Where’s his sneaker deal at? Why wouldn’t he have it?”
Brown has had a stellar regular as well as the playoffs season for the Boston Celtics and Smith reckons the top brands should be chasing him.
“Does [Brown] sound like somebody that’s liked to you by Madison Avenue, by Corporate America, by the people who dole out those kinds of opportunities and those kinds of dollars? Evidently not.”
“That’s the situation with Jaylen Brown. You know what alleviates all of that? If you go into the finals against Luka and Kyrie and you destroy them,” Smith said.
Earlier, Brown had revealed why he doesn’t have a shoe deal while talking on the Point Forward podcast.
“Athletes get kind of stuck on stationary deals. It’s like, here it is—cut and dry. No creative control, no control over your marketing, no input,” Brown said.
“Once you get to the end of those deals where maybe your influence has dropped and they’re looking at the new one, how do they treat you on the way out?” he said.
The first game of the NBA finals will be played on Thursday.