Stephen Curry, Jordan Spieth, Cam Newton and now, Joel Embiid.
The Under Armour family just gained more star power.
The Philadelphia 76ers star has signed a deal with the clothing and footwear giant, it was announced Wednesday. The multiyear deal makes Embiid the NBA's highest-paid big man on a shoe deal, according to The Athletic.
In an essay published on Under Armour's website, Embiid, who previously was with Adidas, explained his decision.
"When I sat down with Under Armour, one of the first things we talked about was how this can be bigger than just shoes, bigger than just basketball," the All-Star big man wrote. "I want to help change people’s lives like (Los Angeles Clippers forward) Luc (Mbah a Moute) changed my life."
Embiid attended Mbah a Moute's basketball camp in his home country of Cameroon in 2011 — an experience he says paved the way for where he is today.
"Basketball has given me everything, but it has to be bigger than basketball," Embiid continued. "That was the first thing that I said to Under Armour, and they were behind it 100 percent. This isn’t about a shoe deal. I mean, listen … I’m gonna make sure they design some shoes as pretty as I am. Don’t worry about that. We’re gonna take care of that.
"But this is bigger than that. I want to use this partnership to do something real. I want to do something that would make my brother (Arthur, who died in a car accident shortly after Embiid was drafted in 2014) proud."
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