I don't follow the whole shoe company thing much, so pardon me if I'm reading too much into this. But I find this news about John Wall meeting with Reebok today significant. Via Michael Lee.
I just heard that likely No. 1 overall pick John Wall is headed to Boston - to meet with reps from Reebok on Fri. about a possible shoe deal ... From what I hear, Reebok is looking for a new franchise face with Allen Iverson retired. Wall could be the future - but he has options.
From what I understand, Reebok has kind of fallen off the map in recent years. They don't have the deep pockets of Nike and Adidas, and because of that, they've been lapped. So if John Wall is seriously considering signing with them, that seems like a pretty big deal, no?
It's almost as if Wall desperately wants to create his own path instead of getting caught up in the LeBron/Nike/JordanBrand mix. First, he eschewed Leon Rose to sign with Dan Fagan, and now, he's doing this. My guess is that he knows that Reebok will make him their top priority if they sign him, since they're desperately looking for a new face to get them back in the public eye.
If so ... this might sound completely blasphemous (it will) ... but isn't this a lot like what Michael Jordan did when he entered the league? Mind you, I'm not saying Wall=MJ, so don't take it that way. But from what I remember, Nike was a bit player in the basketball shoe market before they signed MJ. MJ wanted to go with Nike because he knew they would promote him as their lead guy instead of another shoe company, where he'd be one cog in a larger machine. If Wall signs with Reebok, wouldn't his reasoning be pretty similar?
Anyway, I might be reading too much into this, so tell me if I am. But if this read is on point, it only makes me love John Wall more. I love how he's trying to do his own thing instead of getting caught up with LeBron and his cronies.