Editorial

Puma Is Making ‘Serious Push’ To Pelicans Rookie Zion Williamson

(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

David Hookstead Sports And Entertainment Editor
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The shoe competition involving New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson has an unlikely player involved.

Ever since the freak of nature forward was at Duke, everybody just kind of assumed Nike would land him when it came to an NBA shoe deal. However, Puma is apparently heavily involved in negotiations.

TMZ reported the following Friday:

But, we’re told Puma — which has made a serious push in the basketball shoe space in recent years — has come out of nowhere to become a major contender to sign the NBA’s #1 overall pick.

We’re told Nike is aware of the competition and is making a hard push to get a deal done with Williamson first. As one source puts it, “He’s the #1 priority.”

Puma? I didn’t see that coming at all. Puma has been trying to become more of a power player in the shoe game and has certainly signed some big names. (RELATED: New Orleans Pelicans Pick Zion Williamson First Overall In The NBA Draft)

However, I never would have guessed they would have been in play for Zion. The chatter for several months has been all about Nike.

Let’s not forget, the former Duke star was wearing Nike shoes when he blew them out against UNC and sprained his knee.

Despite that, it seemed like Nike was always the leader for Zion’s services. This would be a gigantic coup for Puma if they were able to pull it off. It’d be absolutely huge for them.

Landing Zion would boost their profile in a way that is borderline difficult to explain.

It should be interesting to see where Zion lands with his shoe deal, but there’s no doubt he’s going to get paid a ton of money.

That much is absolutely for sure.