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Nick DePaulaESPN
All-Star point guard John Wall and Adidas are engaged in ongoing buyout negotiations that will soon bring his five-year footwear and apparel endorsement deal to an end less than two years into the agreement, industry sources told ESPN.
Since signing the deal in January 2018, Wall has been sidelined by a series of injuries, limiting his on-court visibility while wearing the brand’s products. Just three weeks after landing the contract, Wall missed 27 games because of a left-knee injury.
The injury cost him what would have been his fifth All-Star game appearance the following month, when he was expected to help headline the brand’s Crazy BYW X sneaker in Los Angeles.
Once the 2018-19 season was underway, Wall once again was sidelined for an extended period because of a left Achilles tendon injury in late December. After already expecting to miss the remainder of that season, Wall suffered a full tear of the Achilles in February, potentially costing him the entirety of this season as well.
Over the summer, Wizards owner Ted Leonsis acknowledged that Wall “probably won’t play next season,” with an expected return now slated for the start of the 2020-21 season.
Wall first wore Adidas and launched two “JWall” signature sneakers during his 2013-15 span with the company after he began his career with Reebok.
When the two sides couldn’t agree to terms on a shoe deal extension during the fall of 2015, Wall played the following two seasons as a sneaker free-agent without an endorsement deal, despite his status as an All-Star point guard guiding a playoff team.
During an aggressive window in which the brand was looking to ramp up its player signings, Wall and Adidas reunited during his eighth season on a five-year deal that was expected to pay him nearly $25 million in total but will likely instead come to an end.