You know, 2017 is still the last year of adidas' contract with the NBA, and in 2018, when Nike officially started the unified mode to harvest the NBA, some people have even called this league - Nike Basketball Association (originally it should be National), adidas's top player, will there be a chance to stand out?

In essence, the MVP battle between Harden and Wei Shao has come to a new stage from the previous standard of "the best player in the best team". The NBA's "adult beauty" is still determined by its commercial attributes. Behind the awards and honors is the concentrated embodiment of commercial rights.

For brand owners, the huge market of the NBA is undoubtedly also their battlefield, where the battle between Nike and adidas has already begun.

Since the Jordan era, the NBA stage has become more and more in line with sports product marketing, but this huge stage seems to have always been the world of the American brand Nike. Since the 1999-00 season, in the 19 seasons of the new century, only three adidas spokespersons have won the MVP, namely Duncan in the 02-03 season, Garnett in the 03-04 season and Derrick Rose in the 10-11 season.

Is it that adidas doesn't understand the value of stars? The answer is probably no. Adidas has been baptized in European football, and knows this by heart. However, in the summer of 2015, it was Nike who smashed an eight-year, $1 billion jersey sponsorship contract with the NBA, which is a 3.5-fold increase in price per year from the previous 11-year, $400 million contract offered by adidas.

Obviously, after the new sponsorship contract from the beginning of this season came into effect, the NBA officially entered the "Nike era", and in the process of league development, Nike's influence on the NBA is increasing day by day, adding sponsor logos on jerseys, and signing new stars one after another...... This trend makes it even feel like even if this season's MVP is behind someone else, from a business point of view.

If Wei Shao is really elected, this result cannot be said to be without warning. Earlier, in March, LeBron spoke about who he would vote for MVP: "I'm going to vote for myself, given my contribution this season, all the turmoil that has happened in the team this year, all the injuries, all the turnover, and in this situation, we still have the same level of stability as we are now...... There is no doubt that I chose to vote for myself. ”

Coincidentally, on April 7, US time, the NBA official praised James in a rare tone in the MVP list released every Friday: "LeBron can bring a team full of injuries and a bad lineup like this, he has proven his ability, Harden deserves to be the MVP, but if James becomes the ultimate winner, no one can say anything." ”

Behind such fierce competition from MVP to FMVP, we see a Nike who is doing everything he can in the NBA market.

The North American market, as Nike's backyard, has always been a highly valued platform, not only in the NBA, but also in other competitions. On March 29, Nike renewed its sponsorship contract with the NFL for 8 years, which began in 2012 and has an annual sponsorship amount of hundreds of millions of dollars until 2028, and the new sponsorship contract will take effect in 2020.

After renewing his contract with the NFL, Nike continued to serve as the exclusive equipment supplier to the league's 32 teams. In addition to gear, Nike has signed individual sponsorship deals with players in the NFL, offering them custom sneakers and gloves.

The growth of the NFL in recent years is a big reason why Nike has increased its weight in advance. Looking at Forbes' list of the world's most valuable sporting events in 2017, the first place is the NFL Super Bowl with a brand value of $663 million, and the second place is the Summer Olympics with a brand value of $419 million. In terms of team value, 27 of the 50 most valuable professional teams in the world are listed in the NFL. Among them, the Dallas Cowboys topped the list for the second consecutive year with a total value of $4.2 billion.

Behind the big increase in the NFL and NBA, Nike is also looking to restore their former glory in North America.

On March 22, 2018, Nike Group announced its results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2018, in which global revenue increased by 7% year-on-year to $8.984 billion, an overall increase, but gross margin in the third quarter decreased by 70 basis points to 43.8%, while the indicator had been declining in the previous eight quarters.

At the same time, Nike's sales in North America fell 6% year-on-year, while the rest of the region showed an increase. Among them, Greater China has been growing by double digits for 15 consecutive quarters, with revenue reaching $1.336 billion in the third quarter, a year-on-year increase of 24%, and Nike's sales in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America also continued to grow by about 15%.

As a result, the decline in North America has been stark for a long time, with revenue in North America increasing by only 3% in fiscal 2017 and zero growth in the fourth quarter, while revenue in the basketball category plummeted by 6%, making Nike more interested in the value of sponsorship of events, including the NBA.

Behind the MVP, it is still the NBA that makes stars

Of course, no matter how sponsors and players develop and role, the NBA is still at the heart of sports under its commercial veneer.

Jordan's stunning performance in the 1988 slam dunk contest was seen as an important turning point in the internationalization of the NBA and Nike's brand endorsement. AJ3, which helped Jordan rise into the air at that time, later became popular, and it was precisely because of the success of the relationship with Jordan that the NBA and brand owners have re-examined the effect of stars, and the road to star-making has also reached a new stage.

Therefore, from the perspective of sports leagues, the NBA needs to use this to create stars and continuously improve its commercial value, and there is another reason behind MVP that cannot be ignored: values.

In 2018, Grant Hill was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame, and although the American icon who once carried the "Jordan successor" failed to become the superstar everyone expected, he was recognized by the jury, and he has an even more remarkable story behind him.

In 1994, Hill won the All-Star vote in his rookie season when he first entered the league, from his appearance, talent, ball skills to speech and demeanor, and the piano were all praised.

The All-Star vote king is not over, Hill was selected to the All-Star team for 6 years with the Pistons, made an All-Star 5 times, and later played only 4 games with an aggravated ankle injury when he moved to Orlando in the 00-01 season, but he was still selected as an All-Star, which shows his popularity. On April 10, Isaiah Thomas said of Hill: "He's perfect in terms of leading the team, representing the league and showing the right look. ”

In the end, Hill was inducted into the Hall of Fame after 19 seasons, and the NBA stage is also looking for the figure of "Hill", last season's vigorous style of play and epic statistics made him finally a winner, and the charisma of superstars still has a profound impact on the NBA.