Klay Thompson Signs Lifetime Sneaker Deal With ANTA After 10 Million KT Sneakers Sold

Klay Thompson has signed a lifetime endorsement deal with ANTA, extending a 12 year partnership into a long term legacy contract that runs beyond his playing career and coincides with the brand’s first North American flagship in Beverly Hills. The agreement places the Dallas Mavericks guard in a small group of active NBA players with lifetime sneaker contracts and underlines ANTA’s ambition to anchor its global basketball strategy around a handful of signature athletes.

Lifetime Deal Announcement

The lifetime partnership was announced during an event in Beverly Hills tied to the opening of ANTA’s new U.S. flagship, where Thompson joined executives and local officials for a ribbon cutting. Under the deal, he will remain with ANTA for the rest of his career and beyond, with the contract framed as a legacy agreement rather than a standard extension.

Thompson’s relationship with ANTA began in 2014, when he left Nike for the chance to build a signature line, followed by a 10 year deal reportedly worth up to $80 million in 2017. Over that span, ANTA says more than 10 million pairs of KT branded sneakers have been sold, making the line one of the brand’s key basketball franchises in China and other markets.

The Partnership

ANTA describes the new agreement as its first lifetime endorsement contract with a basketball athlete, cementing Thompson as a central figure in future footwear development and brand storytelling. The deal keeps his KT signature series inside ANTA’s main basketball portfolio rather than spinning it out into a separate sub-brand, which means future models will sit alongside other ANTA hoops lines under a unified banner.

The Beverly Hills flagship is positioned as a brand hub for performance running, lifestyle ranges, and signature basketball lines, giving ANTA a physical stage in North America to showcase KT product and related storytelling to a wider audience. That physical presence is important as the company leans into athlete led marketing in markets where it is still building mainstream recognition.

Positioning in the Sneaker Landscape

Thompson now joins LeBron James and Kevin Durant at Nike and Damian Lillard at Adidas among the small group of NBA players with lifetime shoe deals, a category still reserved for long running, commercially proven partnerships. The move signals that, despite late career stat lines that are below his peak, ANTA sees sustained value in his profile, championship history, and long-term association with the brand.

For ANTA, securing a lifetime commitment from one of its earliest major NBA signings solidifies the foundation under a wider roster that now includes names like Kyrie Irving, who also serves as ANTA Basketball’s Chief Creative Officer. It also sends a signal in the broader performance market that Chinese sportswear players intend to lock in signature athletes for the long haul, rather than treating them as short term endorsement cycles.

Why it Matters

For sneaker and basketball-focused readers, the deal is a reminder that some of the most meaningful endorsement plays are now happening outside the traditional U.S. and European brand duopoly. Thompson’s KT line has quietly built volume over a decade, and a lifetime contract suggests ANTA will keep investing in that franchise as a core asset in the world’s largest footwear market.

For Thompson, the agreement effectively locks in his flagship partnership for the rest of his career and into retirement, tying his legacy to a brand that was willing to make him a signature priority early on, and is now prepared to keep that story going even as his on court role evolves.