A : A Chinese sneaker company making the former All-Star their company spokemodel. From the Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan Feigen :
Francis held a press conference to announce that he would endorse Anta products and wear Anta shoes, starting as soon as they can get a pair over here for him. His signature shoe will be available in China sometime in the beginning of the new year. Anta hopes to begin sales in the United States in three or four years.
It was not Reebok, who put out his signature shoes when he was a Rockets All Star, or Nike, which he has worn since the Reebok deal ended. And maybe the change from the kings of Western shoe companies to a Chinese company he probably had never heard of six weeks ago is indicative of more than the change in his status as an NBA celebrity. It was like Bill Murray going to Japan to tape a commercial in Lost in Translation, without the jetlag and Scarlett Johansson.
Perhaps Doug Christie can still crack the lucrative Canadian marital aids market?