"Nike's very controlling" - Kevin Garnett explained his decision to switch from Nike to AND1

kevin-garnett

Through his 21 seasons in the NBA, Kevin Garnett played for just three teams. Twelve years after he was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves, he was sent to the Boston Celtics. He spent a short stint with the Brooklyn Nets before returning to the Wolves, where he retired in 2016.

Interestingly, Garnett had more signature shoe deals with different brands than NBA employers. He repped Nike, AND1, Adidas, and Anta. Many probably thought he'd stay with Nike for the long haul, given the great situation he was in. In 2002, he shared why he moved to AND1 the year before.

"It looked like a great situation because of the advertising," Garnett told SLAM. "But Nike's very controlling—they feel like they're Nike, they made Jordan, they did all these great things. I'm a person who has a lot of ideas, and I have to say that...you don't see my ideas."

Garnett's creative dispute with Nike

The Hall of Famer has often credited Nike for helping him garner attention in the sport as a 17-year-old. While he was still an under-the-radar talent, he joined the Swoosh camp, which helped him become more known on the national stage.

So, it was only fitting that he joined the international brand upon getting drafted into the NBA out of high school in 1995. It was a fruitful partnership and even bore a signature line for KG: the Air Garnett.

However, the former Celtics champion didn't just want signature sneakers. He wanted more, including his own clothing line, which Nike didn't give him the license to achieve. Garnett expressed surprise at how "easy that situation evaporated." On the bright side, that allowed him to switch allegiance to AND1 in 2001.

Garnett's foray with Adidas and Anta

The 15-time All-Star helped the upstart brand gain a lot of following, peaking in 2001 as second in market share among NBA endorsees, behind only Nike. He also got to show his creative side as the brand's ambassador, although some of their ads were a bit controversial.

Garnett didn't stay long with AND1. He signed with Adidas, although his signature lines with the brand were relatively disappointing. The highest point of his partnership with Adidas was his endorsement of it when he won a title in Boston.

In 2010, the iconic power forward left again for his fourth brand, Anta. He would remain with the Chinese company through his stint with the Nets and upon re-joining the Wolves. The collaboration helped put Anta on the map and boosted his brand in China.

Interestingly, everything came full circle for KG and AND1 after he returned to the company in 2018 as its creative director and global ambassador.