“Oh…I’m getting close[to retirement]. There we go,” said 34 year old Klay Thompson while speaking about his 10th signature shoe drop, ‘ANTA KT 10’. This realization came about when interviewer Nick DePaula reminded Thompson that Michael Jordan had retired after his 14th signature shoe drop.The link to MJ didn’t stop there however.
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DePaula allowed Klay to reminisce over the time he was 26 and was about to drop his 3rd signature shoe. It was then when Thompson had boldly claimed, “I would hopefully be the Michael Jordan one day of Anta.”
Early in his career, Thompson took a very calculated risk and didn’t sign with Nike or Adidas when they were ready for him with an offer. Instead, Thompson went with the Chinese sportswear giant ‘Anta’. He had big dreams with his partnership with the company. In fact, he was eyeing a legacy similar to that of Michael Jordan with Nike.
The statement may seem hyperbolic, but he had the backing of a strong company. Anta is the largest sports equipment company in terms of revenue and third largest in terms of overall sporting goods. However, Klay hasn’t quite generated the momentum he thought he would.
He has since realized that replicating the impact of the Jordan brand is out of his reach. “I don’t think I’m MJ [Michael Jordan]”, Thompson said during the interview after his statement as a 26 year old was brought up.
One of the benefits that Jordan enjoyed at the time was that the market wasn’t as crowded as it is today. More importantly, Jordan was by far the best player in the NBA, which shot up his shoe sales.
However, as per the GM of Anta Basketball, Ben Tsai, partnering with Thompson has been incredible for the brand. He said, “At our peak, one signature shoe could sell a million pairs here in China.” Thompson is also making good money from this partnership. He has a 10-year deal with Anta worth $80 million.
Klay financially, is certainly set for life barring any poor monetary decisions. Given how he enjoys partaking in events on the whim, it wouldn’t be surprising to hear Thompson announcing his retirement in the next couple of years.
The 34-year-old has acknowledged the fact that his career will eventually come to an end when asked about Jordan. If he were to follow in his footsteps, Klay would retire in merely 4 more years as he is 4 shoe drops away from reaching the ‘KT14’.
During an earlier conversation with Bart Winkler, he had said, “Basketball is…I love it too much for me just to be able to sail off into the sunset. There’s too much I think I can give back.”
Coaching is on Thompson’s wishlist, but he will probably not coach pro-level players.
