Bulls G Derrick Rose is “trying to stay almost as visible as when he was on the basketball court,” according to Maureen Morrison of AD AGE. Rose is not only “playing off his injury in TV commercials for the D Rose collection shoe from Adidas, but he is featured in the latest ‘2K NBA’ video game alongside fellow young NBA stars” Thunder F Kevin Durant and Clippers F Blake Griffin. Rose is “also turning up in local spots for Chicago-based pizza chain Giordano's, which he recently bought a stake in.” Being sidelined potentially until next season “might seem like it could hurt his endorsement potential." However, SportsCorp President Marc Ganis said, "In some ways this has actually been beneficial to his endorsement persona.” Morrison notes Rose and adidas have “focused on his injury as a theme in the advertising for the shoe.” The spots, which “include the hashtag #thereturn, were created by agency 180LA and show fans frozen in disbelief when Mr. Rose gets injured, as well as snippets of him doing intense rehabilitation workouts.” IEG data shows that Rose “brought in about $18 million from endorsements this year.” That “makes him the third-highest endorsement earner in the NBA, trailing only LeBron James at $33 million and Kobe Bryant at $28 million.” In addition to adidas and 2K Sports, Rose's endorsements “include Powerade, Wilson and headphone company Skullcandy” (AD AGE, 11/12 issue).
