What Payton Pritchard said of choosing Converse shoe deal over Jaylen Brown’s 741s
“I’m not in a position like JB is where we’re not making as much money as that man."
The 2024-25 season has been a successful one so far for Celtics guard Payton Pritchard.
Not only is the 27-year-old Pritchard the frontrunner for the Sixth Man of the Year Award on one of the best teams in the NBA, but he also just signed a shoe deal with Converse last week.
Speaking ahead of Boston’s eventual 119-117 overtime win over the Knicks on Tuesday, Pritchard acknowledged that there were several interested companies looking to sign him before he opted for Converse — who also hold a shoe deal with NBA MVP frontrunner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
“There was a lot of companies,” Pritchard said. “A lot of people put their offers out. Ultimately, Converse’s offer and what everything with it was I thought was the best decision for myself. … Converse I feel like it appealed to me in the lifestyle stuff.”
Converse noted in the press release announcing Pritchard’s signing that the guard will wear the All Star BB Trilliant CX for the remainder of the 2024–25 season.
Pritchard already has plenty of familiarity with the Converse brand — considering that the Massachusetts-based company has been a subsidiary of Nike since 2003. Pritchard primarily wore Nike shoes during his collegiate days at the University of Oregon, which receives plenty of support from alum and Nike co-founder Phil Knight.
Pritchard’s new shoe deal does mean that his days of wearing teammate Jaylen Brown’s 741 brand basketball sneakers are also a thing of the past.
When Brown opted to turn down a shoe deal with an established company and created his own performance brand in 741, Pritchard was a reliable pitchman on the hardwood — wearing Brown’s 741 Performance Rovers in multiple games this season.
“He’s been in my bag, man, for sure,” Brown said of Pritchard earlier this season. “He got my shoes on. I’m gonna have to take my joints back. He definitely has the up-fakes, the post moves, he’s definitely been expanding his game and I love to see it.”
But even with Pritchard’s support of the 741 brand, he was candid when asked about how he broke the news to Brown that he was making the switch to Converse.
“I mean, once you tell him the money situation and stuff like that, then he’s gonna have to understand it a little bit more,” Pritchard said. “I’m not in a position like JB is, where — we’re not making as much money as that man. It’s a little bit different.
“He wasn’t heartbroken. I’m still gonna be always supportive of his brand, and I hope that takes off.”
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