Most NBA players have a relationship with a footwear brand.
The simplest agreement is known as a merch deal – short for merchandise – where a brand will agree to send an allotment of current sneakers to the player for practices and games. Many of the shoes also feature a player’s unique phrase or logo on the shoe.
The next level up is the cash deal. As you can imagine, there's a wide variety in the range of cash given to players. Many also have a trigger clause that will reward players extra if they are chosen as an All-Star or reach a specified milestone.
Few basketball players can boast of having their own signature shoe. Amongst the U.S. brands, there are currently 10 signature athletes: LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving at Nike; Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony at Nike's Jordan brand; Derrick Rose and Damian Lillard at Adidas (James Harden’s shoe will launch in 2017); and Stephen Curry at Under Armour.