Dwyane Wade Introduces New Shoe Colorways, Discusses Leaving Jordan for Li-Ning

Dwyane Wade‘s long-rumored departure from Jordan Brand became reality earlier this month as the Miami Heat star teased imagery of his new Li-Ning signature prior to tomorrow’s official announcement from the Chinese company. Now, Wade has revealed for the first time the reasoning for his departure from Michael Jordan’s namesake Nike-backed brand to the upstart basketball wing of the company founded by Chinese gymnast Li Ning. Speaking to ESPN’s Darren Rovell, Wade stated: “This is a great opportunity for me. I can either choose to stick to the status quo or be a trailblazer… In the end, the pros outweighed the cons. Jordan might have that cool factor, but I’m at a different point in my career. I want to be involved in building something.” Additionally, Wade took the opportunity to unveil two special edition colorways of his Li-Ning kicks – a black and gold “Away” makeup to be worn against the Clippers on October 11 in a pre-season match-up in Beijing, as well as a white and red “Home” version to be donned in Shanghai against Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and co. three days later. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s official introduction of the partnership between Wade and Li-Ning, a deal that reportedly will net Wade a significant amount of equity in the company on top of the multimillion-dollar contract.

Source: ESPN