And that's why they're Adiduhs

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If you've read the book Sole Influence by Dan Wetzel and Don Yaeger, you know that the entire "how-we-got-here" of modern-day basketball hinges on two things: a fledgling Nike's signing of a young Michael Jordan and Phil Knight's declaration of war after Adidas signed Kobe Bryant.

Thus, if you want to study the history of athletic apparel and sit on the market's throne for a long, long time, you must look out for the next Jordan, Kobe, or LeBron James. There's little doubt that Kevin Durant fits that "savior" mold.

So why the heck did Adidas not offer Durant a much-respect offer such as $90 million or something at least nearby what Nike offered LeBron a few years back? Instead, they offered only $70 million to a guy that has been wearing Nikes ever since hitting the AAU scene. After all, it's been reported in the SportsBusiness Journal that Nike spends over $2 billion dollars on athlete endorsements -- and you'd have to figure that Adidas is at a level at least half of that.

Reality check. What's another $20 million? It's only 2 percent of $1 billion. If Adidas is spending $2 billion like Nike on endorsements, then we're talking one more measly percent to get Durant. It's practically Monopoly money at those levels.

Or maybe Adidas is actually smarter than we know; they have resigned to the fact they cannot beat Nike in the war of pop culture, and this whole Durant thing was a PR charade to show the world that they tried, while not rattling the endorsement market out of whack.

But here's the bottom line: despite the potential of Adidas, I'll be sticking loyally to my Nikes, at least until the next Durant comes along.

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