The Story of Dwyane Wade Career Sneaker Contracts. The young Dwyane Wade entered the NBA in 2003 as the 5th overall pick of the Miami Heat along with the future stars like LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Bosh — arguably the best draft class since the legendary 1984 NBA draft.

Most of the high-ranked rookies were enticed by brands to endorse them for a negotiable contract. Some of the athletes right now we’re living their life to the fullest because of the salary they got from endorsements which is much bigger than their NBA salary.

The “Flash” is one of the luckiest athletes to have a contract like this. So come on, join us and let’s tackle the story of Wade’s sneaker contracts in his whole career.

The Converse Contract

While LeBron and Melo signed a huge contract with Nike and Jordan Brand respectively, Wade accepted an offer from Converse that will pay him a mere $400,000 per year.

In mid-2005, Converse released Wade’s first-ever signature shoe named Converse Wade 1 designed by Duane Lawrence and is inspired by functionality found in nature. The said signature shoe was a big success as they managed to sell 1 million pairs globally. He wore this signature shoe on many events like at their 2005 NBA Championship and at the 2006 FIBA Games where they won the gold medals.

In September 2006, Converse released the Wade 1.3 because of the success of the first one. Later that year, they also released the Wade 2.

The Converse Wade 3 came out in the summer of 2007 and he used it during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. In late 2008, they revealed the Wade 4 but Wade himself refuses to wear it as he prefers more the Wade 1 because it satisfies his needs that’s why they released the retro version of it in April 2009.

The Jordan Contract

After he left Converse, the 2005 Finals MVP signed a contract with the highly-regarded Jordan Brand. He wore many Jordan sneakers before endorsing the new Air Jordan 2010. In the 2011 Christmas Day game between the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers, D-Wade debuted the new Air Jordan 2011.

In May of the same year, Jordan and Wade released the “Jordan Fly Wade”, his first signature sneaker with the brand. Despite its popularity, the shoe has only made average sales. To make things worse, a company named Point 3 Basketball sued them for copying their logo and was later on to reach an agreement to settle the matter.

The “Jordan Fly Wade 2” was released in December of 2011 but the sales still haven’t made much impact on the revenue.

Wade’s contract with the Jordan Brand ended in September of 2012.

The Li-Ning Contract

Wade surprised all the NBA fans when he signed a contract with an international company named Li-Ning, a Chinese sneaker brand, worth around $60 million for 10 years plus equity in the business.

The “Way of Wade 1”, his first signature sneaker with Li-Ning, was released in January of 2013 but it is more pricey than the best-seller on the market, LeBron’s signature shoes. Later on, they released 7 more “Way of Wade” sneakers until 2018.

In July of 2018, Wade signed a lifetime endorsement contract with Li-Ning but his contract salary was not disclosed. He joined Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Cristiano Ronaldo as the only athletes who had such contracts.