Why Blake Griffin Signing With Under Armour Makes Sense

A knee injury kept Blake Griffin out of the Olympic Games in London this summer so we didn’t get a chance to see where his current sneaker affiliation is. Griffin as an athlete would be a perfect fit with Under Armour and everything they as a brand stand for. His $95 million extension with the Clippers ensures that very little will keep BG32 out of a Clippers jersey for years to come so there is no better time than to build a brand around Blake.

Since signing Brandon Jennings as the first Under Armour Basketball athlete and the release of the UA Black Ice in 2010, the grassroots brand from Baltimore has struggled to obtain commercial success as far as sales go. Where Under Armour may lack in sales however, they definitely flourish in amateur endorsements. Sponsoring many basketball teams at the college and high school levels, those players are exposed to products they normally wouldn’t be so they would be more inclined to look for similar products as their career develops.

During Game 5 of the NBA Playoff series where the Grizzlies were playing Clippers, Blake Griffin ripped straight thru a pair of the 2011 Hyperdunk Elite.

For those not familiar with the Elite series, it featured three sneakers that launched right before the start of the NBA Playoffs: the Zoom Kobe VII, Zoom LeBron IX, and 2011 Hyperdunk. These weren’t moderately priced sneakers either. Both the Kobes and Hyperdunks retailed for $200 with the LeBrons coming in at $250. The idea behind the Elite series was to improve on the already top-of-the-line sneakers by retooling them with better, stronger materials.

Could this be why Under Armour has developed a basketball version of their popular Spine training sneaker and this sample is in a LA Clippers-friendly colorway?

With no official word as of yet this is all speculation but the first tip-off is right around the corner so only time will tell.