Joel Embiid’s Signature Sneakers From Under Armour Are on the Way

Joel Embiid is one of the brightest stars in the NBA. And soon, he’ll have a signature basketball sneaker with Under Armour.

Speaking to select media at the brand’s headquarters in Baltimore today, Under Armour and the Philadelphia 76ers baller revealed he will be the next basketball player on its roster to get a signature shoe. The look — named the Under Armour Embiid 1 — will drop in fall ‘20 and it is designed by Reggie Wilson.

“We had conversations [about a signature shoe]. But you have to perform as an athlete; you can’t expect it,” Embiid told media today. “I proved I deserve it and these guys [Under Armour] have a lot of faith in me.”

Although news of an upcoming signature basketball sneaker was broken, most of the performance and tech details about the look for Embiid remain under wraps.

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Embiid and Wilson, however, did mention it was built to be a lightweight and “positionless shoe.”

”It’s not a big-man shoe,” Embiid said. “It’s just a shoe for a basketball player.”

Under Armour announced in October 2018 that it had signed Embiid, a two-time NBA All-Star, to an endorsement deal. When the deal was revealed, the athlete said his deal was “bigger than basketball.”

“When you come to America from Africa, you almost expect that everything is going to be perfect. You expect that most people have an easy life. But when I came to Philly, I saw that there’s real poverty here, too. There’s a real struggle, too,” Embiid said in a statement at the time. “I’m going to be working on some big things with Under Armour. I got a few surprises coming for the Philly community, and for the rest of the world.”

Prior to his signing with Under Armour, the center-forward laced up looks from Adidas.

This season, Embiid has laced up the Under Armour UA Hovr Havoc 2, a tech-loaded sneaker featuring the brand’s energy-returning Hovr cushioning, a mid-foot TPU shank for lateral stability and a molded textile upper for comfort and breathability.