“It’s a dream”: Cleveland star Darius Garland signs new sneaker deal with New Balance

New Balance has made it official. After months of reported negotiations, they’ve finally decided to announce Darius Garland as the newest member of their basketball family. Throughout the years, the sportswear brand has brought in a unique selection of stars who are role models both on and off the NBA courts.

The Cleveland guard couldn’t help but announce this new sponsorship deal as a dream come true. “It is a dream to become a part of the New Balance brand,” he shared. “New Balance is a family brand and it felt that way from the first conversation.”

“The brand’s commitment to individuality and their respect for athletes to be themselves is something I deeply respect,” he added with pride.

Darius Garland is signing a multi-year endorsement deal with New Balance 👟✍️ pic.twitter.com/0tqXiaOaR1

— Nice Kicks (@nicekicks) November 29, 2023

The 23-year-old was the fifth overall pick out of the 2019 NBA Draft, and already became an All-Star in 2022. Darius is well known for being a versatile guard who has immense skills when distributing the ball, shooting from range and great court vision when ball handling.

New Balance couldn’t be more excited about their selection. “We couldn’t be happier to have Darius on board,” said Naveen Lokesh, head of the brand’s Basketball Sports Marketing. “Darius embodies the independent spirit of New Balance. His commitment to mastering the game, while also giving back to his community, is incredibly impressive. Darius is driven to succeed his way, and that is something we value at New Balance.”

The sportswear giants believe in creating authentic relationships with their superstars, taking pride in co-creating the marketing products alongside the athlete’s vision. Garland now joins a roster than includes Kawhi Leonard, Dejounte Murray, Jamal Murray, Zach Lavine and Tyrese Maxey.

After the Cavs’ recent In-Season Tournament elimination, Garland expressed his discomfort with the competition’s point-differential rule

Even though Cleveland picked up their third win of the In-Season Tournament on Tuesday against Atlanta, they didn’t make it to the next round due to the point difference rule. Even though they finished second in their group, the Cavs needed to score more points to qualify.

Eventually, the New York Knicks took the wild-card spot into the competition’s quarterfinals. In the video below, check out the Ohio franchise’s elimination despite winning by 23 points:

“It’s kind of different,” Darius expressed. “It’s not respecting the game as much as I want it to be. I took a shot with like 25 seconds left and I didn’t feel comfortable doing it. I think the in-season tournament is really great. The point differential is the thing that people around the league would like to change I believe.”

Garland dropped in 19 points and handed out 8 assists throughout the contest, as the Cavaliers will now have to turn the page and concentrate on making it to next year’s playoffs.