Zion Williamson is gearing up to be the face of the NBA for future generations. Zion has signed his first signature shoe deal with the Jordan Brand, making him the first Gen Z athlete to have a signature deal. The Zion 1 debuted last night against the Brooklyn Nets. Joining a talented roster of current NBA players, Zion takes his next step into the status of NBA superstar. At the age of 20, Zion Williamson is becoming the leader of a new generation of NBA stars. Zion highlighted his thoughts about the record-breaking new deal.
“Words can’t really explain it. As a kid, you just say it to put in the atmosphere like, Hey, I want my own signature shoe, but as you get older you see it is tough to get your own signature shoe,” says Williamson. “Things have to really go your way, and I just want to thank Jordan Brand for the opportunity because I don’t think it has hit me yet.”
Zion 1 will debut with four very unique colorways: Gen Zion (black and white), ZNA (cosmic design), Noah (very vibrant colorway), and Marion (a shoe inspired by Zion’s youthful upbringing). Each show speaks about who Zion is as a person beyond the realms of professional basketball.
“We really wanted to make sure these first four colorways were an embodiment of who he is as a person. Super humble family guy and super quiet,“ says Amy. “Those are things the consumer just doesn’t know about him so we kind of wanted to tell those stories. As we talked to Zion earlier on, if he had his way, every shoe would probably be black and white. The kid is simple and just loves the basics. Throughout the design process every time we made tweaks to the design he always wanted to see it in black and white before anything else. I think it gave him a look at how the shoe would ultimately look like.”
Zion Williamson has built upon his rookie season, further making the case for the leader of Gen Z. Zion is averaging more than 26.9 points per game while shooting 61%. Zion’s passing ability is on full display this season, averaging close to 3.7 assists per game with 7.2 rebounds. The first time all-star looks to be the voice of reason in New Orleans. As the season winds down, New Orleans Pelicans are 18 games behind first place and are fighting to climb the ladder for a spot in the NBA play-in tournament this season. Judging by the outcome of this season, the Pelicans might be looking to make a big splash in the off-season to acquire vets to bolster chances.
