ANTA has announced a lifetime endorsement agreement with Klay Thompson, the first lifetime deal in ANTA Basketball history, formalizing a partnership that began in 2015 and has run for 12 years. The announcement came during the 2026 NBA All Star Weekend in Los Angeles, on the same day ANTA opened its first ever North American flagship store in Beverly Hills.
Twelve Years, One Signature Line
Thompson joined ANTA at age 24 and has since delivered some of the most statistically remarkable performances in NBA history while wearing the brand, including 37 points in a single quarter, 60 points in 29 minutes on just 11 dribbles, and an NBA record 14 three pointers in a single game. He has earned five All Star selections and four NBA championships during the partnership. The KT signature line has now reached its 11th generation, making it one of the most developed signature basketball shoe lines associated with a Chinese sportswear brand.
The KT11 Make it Forever Edition
To mark the signing, ANTA unveiled the KT11 Player Edition “Make it Forever,” a diamond inlaid special release that symbolizes the permanent nature of the deal. Thompson will be among the first athletes to wear footwear built on ANTA’s most advanced technologies going forward, and his exclusive apparel line is set for a significant design shift.
Beverly Hills Flagship as a Globalization Signal
The timing of the Beverly Hills store opening alongside the lifetime deal announcement is deliberate. ANTA Brand CEO Samuel Xu framed the flagship as a core window into ANTA’s North American strategy, designed to build international consumer awareness and signal a new phase of systematic global execution. Los Angeles, as both a basketball and streetwear capital, gives ANTA immediate cultural proximity to the market it is targeting.
What the Deal Signals
Thompson’s popularity in China, where he is known as “China Klay,” has made him one of the most effective bridges between NBA culture and Chinese basketball consumers over the past decade. ANTA’s decision to lock in a lifetime deal at this stage of his career is less about peak on court performance and more about long term IP, youth basketball development, and global brand storytelling. For an industry watching Chinese sportswear brands push harder into Western markets, the Beverly Hills flagship and lifetime deal together mark one of the clearest moves yet.
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