The basketball sneaker industry has become dominated by signature sneakers, with nearly 70 percent of the NBA wearing shoes branded by a group of just 15 players this past season. It's all part of a plan to revive the Puma Basketball brand, a plan that has been in motion for the past 16 months. The upcoming marketing campaigns, input on future product, quirky social media visibility and, yes, access to 'The Puma Jet' - the brand's new private plane for athletes - became key factors in appealing to players. I've played in their circuits and stuff like that, but now it's a business,' Ayton told Bleacher Report.

Puma - which landed four of the top 15 picks in this year's draft, including top picks Deandre Ayton and Marvin Bagley III - is offering the chance for players to immediately be the face of a brand, rather than waiting their turn at larger companies. The declaration from the Boston Celtics guard was quickly worked up into a graphic on the official Instagram account for Puma Basketball, perfectly encapsulating the splash the company is trying to make as it re-enters the NBA market for the first time in 20 seasons. Terry Rozier had a simple message for the basketball and sneaker worlds last week. Puma's unexpected NBA comeback: 'You can only surprise people once' You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser